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FA 


of Faith 


By 
A. Z. CONRAD, Ph.D., D.D. 
Minister, Park Street Church, Boston 


Author of ‘‘Jesus Christ at the Crossroads** 
*‘Comrades of the Carpenter’” 


PHILADELPHIA 
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL TIMES COMPANY 


CopyrIcHT, 1926, By 


Tue SunpAy ScHoot Times CoMPANY 


PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES oF AMERICA 


Busy 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 
PCT ais et ee A ate en Ad Re a 
Tue First FINALITY OF FAITH: Gop Is..... 13 


THE SECOND FINALITY OF FaitH: GODCREATED 39 


THE Tuirp FINALITY OF FairH: Gop SPAKE 75 


THE FourtH FINALITY oF FaitH: Gop CAME 98 


THe Firtra FINALity oF FaituH: Gop RE- 


TIER MELE hl MOEA aioe ca ere hk clears 145 


THe SixtH FINAuity oF Fairy: Gop Is Here 174 


THe SEVENTH FINALITY OF FaitH: Gop Is 
CEN AAT NG Here ces Ce eC ae wig a 207 


aT Ct hd Fos Te Bh on A og SU RNs OU EL 217 


Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2022 with funding from 
Princeton Theological Seminary Library 


https://archive.org/details/sevenfinalitiesoOOconr_0 


FOREWORD 


EVEN primary colors give all the glory to the 
covenant bow in the cloud. They represent all the 
shades of beauty. Seven great affirmations repre- 

sent the sum total of Christian doctrine. The simplicities 
of the Christian faith are quite as wonderful as its com- 
plexities. In seventeen words the supreme finalities of 
the Christian faith may be stated: 

Gop Is. 

GoD CREATED. 

Gop SPAKE. 

Gop CAME. 

GoD REDEEMED. 

Gop IS HERE. 

Gop IS COMING AGAIN, 

Here we have the seven segments of the complete circle 
of Christian doctrine. The most arresting, awakening, 
and arousing thing in the world today is the persistence 
of Christian faith. Amid noisy denials, reckless re- 
pudiations, sophistical satire, lame logic, and appalling 
apostasies, one would expect that believers in supernat- 
ural religion with its redemptive urge would weaken in 
their assurance of, and perchance give up, their insistent 
affirmations. Evangelical Christianity, though tempo- 
rarily crushed, crumpled, and sometimes baffled, but 
never beaten, pursues its course unrestrained and undis- 
mayed in the teeth of the storm. 

“Oh, that I knew where I might find Him!” is the uni- 
versal cry until he is found at manger, cross, and throne. 

5 


6 FOREWORD 


Normal humanity refuses to be confined within the visible 
and tangible. The consciousness of the Infinite was im- 
planted by almighty God and is ineradicable. In their 
more thoughtful moods men know that infinite values and 
realities lie behind the cosmic curtain. Humanity refuses 
to be satisfied with explorations on the floor of the visible 
valley. 

The lure of the Supernatural is persuasive and power- 
ful. The fires of a boundless hope cannot be wet- 
blanketed by a naturalistic philosophy. Modern educa- 
tional programs and processes tend to opiate the very 
faculties which are reaching out after God, but belief 
still persists. Intoxicated by unprecedented mastery of 
nature, mankind is applauding the superman, but there 
is still a sober remnant whose unyielding hold on the 
invisible and the eternal is powerfully influential. Ossi- 
fied by selfishness, refrigerated by indifference, the heart 
of humanity still calls for a vision of after-death realities. 
Since God parted the curtains of his universe and visibly 
walked among men in the person of Christ, faith in the 
supernatural has energized the imagination and vitalized 
human will. 

The most important body of truth in the world is that 
represented in the term Christian faith. The longing to 
know self, God, and the relations between the two, makes 
it impossible to abandon the desire to have a clearer per- 
ception of duty and destiny. The effort to dismiss God 
and moral accountability is just as futile as the attempt 
to banish self-consciousness. Faith is force. Convictions 
are commanding. A man with no fixed and final faith 
has no more moral lifting power than one standing in 
quicksand has physical lifting power. 


FOREWORD 7 


Spiritually, there are thousands of people who, like a 
man in mid-air, are hoping sometime and somewhere to 
land on their feet. The hopeless and helpless drifting 
toward headlands where wreck is inevitable is due to the 
foolish assumption that everything in the nature of re- 
ligious belief is in a state of flux. It is something for 
one to be willing to die for his convictions, but it is much 
more important to have convictions worth dying for. 

The maps and charts that have been proven accurate 
and reliable by thousands of voyagers are to be trusted 
and accepted. Nothing is more irrational than to throw 
them into the discard. What could be more futile, foolish, 
and inane than to make the demand that in many modern 
educational processes is made that the student approach 
any and all subjects with a mind as blank as an unmarked 
sheet of paper! This assumes that to no one before the 
present moment has any truth been revealed worthy of 
immediate recognition. A student with a normal mind 
could not, if he would, bring himself into such a de- 
humanized state of nonentity. The criteria by which 
truth is determined are well known. Principles and 
propositions that successfully stand the test of all the 
criteria of truth are to be accepted at their face value. 
Negations generate no power. Denials dismiss no facts. 
Rejection leaves realities untouched and unbroken. The 
wheels of God’s chariot of progress are not turned by 
agnostics and atheists. 

The demand for finality is persistent and insistent. 
Man is restless and peaceless until the supreme concerns 
of existence are settled in his own mind. “Let me fly 
to the Rock that is higher than I” is the earnest cry of 
souls seeking sure and secure foundations upon which 


8 FOREWORD 


to build character and from which natural and spiritual 
realities may be viewed sanely. The Church of the Lord 
Jesus Christ can never successfully advance half rational- 
istic and half evangelical. Two cannot walk together 
except they be agreed. 

Evangelical Christianity accepts as its inspiration and 
its foundation the only Evangel of which we know any- 
thing, namely, that presented in God’s Word. It is here 
we find the seven finalities of faith. They are not accepted 
by rationalistic Modernism. Every one of them is heartily 
received and loyally advocated by true evangelicals. A 
vivisectionist has related an experiment in which he suc- 
ceeded in grafting to one insect a portion of another while 
both were in the pupa stage. The result was an insect 
with dual tendencies —to seek the earth and to ascend 
to the heavens. How is it possible more perfectly to 
illustrate the difference between evangelical believers and 
the advocates of rationalism? ‘The one group heartily 
accepts the supernatural, is ever ascending to the heights, 
the other moves in horizontal lines with its atheistic trend 
of thought. 

To cast aspersions at Christian doctrine is the mark of 
a superficial mind. ‘The spiritual life can only unfold in 
a congenial atmosphere, and the fruit of the Spirit will 
always be found on trees rooted in the fields of faith. 
When orchids grow on icebergs and wheat fields are 
found on glaciers, then, and not until then, may we 
expect the flowers and fruit of the Spirit to flourish in 
anti-supernatural and non-evangelical soil, 

Tested by all the criteria of truth, the seven finalities 
of faith stand as unalterably and indestructibly true. 
They represent the irreducible minimum and at the same 


FOREWORD 9 


time the horizoned maximum of spiritual reality. These 
seven splendid affirmations constitute the great fortress 
of Christian truth. Assaults against this fortress are as 
impotent to effect its destruction as shadows on the moun- 
tain are to obliterate the Jungfrau or the Matterhorn. 
Evangelical Christianity boldly accepts these finalities. 
On the shores of the stormy sea of doubt and denial the 
Church lifts this sevenfold beacon which no storm can 
extinguish. 

Only as the Church of Christ can say with absolute 
assurance, “I know whom I have believed,” will it be 
able to accomplish its supernatural mission. Without 
this sevenfold affirmation the Church is as powerless to 
stem the tides of sin and crime that threaten to engulf 
the world as is the bit of kelp driven by ocean winds 
and tide to turn the course of the Gulf Stream. The 
real dynamic of the Church of God is the Holy Spirit who 
is the author of God’s Book giving to it an authority 
which no man can wrest from it. To these unshakeable 
validities let us hold unyieldingly and uncompromisingly 
because in them is humanity’s salvation. 

It is our purpose to present the seven finalities of faith 
constructively and positively, and in such language that 
the average layman may see clearly the substance of 
Christian doctrine as accepted by evangelical Christians. 
By evangelical Christians we mean those who believe the 
sum-total of inspired truth presented in the Old and New 
Testament, and more particularly the Good News brought 
to the world by God’s only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, 
our Lord and Saviour. We shall have accomplished our 
purpose if we are able to bring within understandable and 
manageable compass the essentials of the Gospel of Christ. 


10 FOREWORD 


For in these essentials we have the answer to the question 
of the ages, ‘“‘What must I do to be saved?” 

In this study of essentials, I am pleading for cubical 
Christian character. A cube is a six-sided solid. The 
length, breadth, and height of it are equal. A true Chris- 
tian personality is cubical. It is six-sided and it is solid. 
It is a thing of substance. We are living in a day of 
latitudinarianism. Many people are all for breadth. 
Broadmindedness is stressed as though it were the only 
dimension. ‘“Broaditis’ is a disease. People who under- 
score broadmindedness to the neglect of the other di- 
mensions only deceive themselves. They are thin-minded 
rather than broad-minded. What is called breadth is only 
a thin veneer concealing the narrowest of idealisms and 
often the most supercilious conduct. 

The professional broad-minded individual is usually 
living a very contracted life. A horizonless life is only 
a mirage. A defined boundary means at least that you 
are living in a real and not a phantom universe. A 
cubical personality has breadth but at the same time it 
has length and height. It is evangelical in that it is as 
broad as truth and as basic as reality. Such a life recog- 
nizes that high thinking and deep thinking and long 
thinking and strong thinking are quite as important as 
broad thinking. If what is called broadmindedness car- 
ried its proper label it would be weak-mindedness. 

A man or woman with virile religious convictions is 
often called narrow by the thin, shadowy, spineless, creed- 
less manikins who are palming themselves off on the 
world as real folks. Liberalism evaporates personality 
until it is of tissue-paper thinness and soap-bubble con- 
tent. Modernism is eternally harping on its all-out-of- 


FOREWORD te 


doors breadth. Its advocates travel in circles and never 
arrive. The mountain pass is not as wide as the shadow 
of the cloud that sweeps over the Alpine heights but it is 
the road through the pass that leads to the flower fields 
and orchards beyond. 

We plead, then, for high thinking, for deep thinking, 
for cubical living with solidity, substance and sanity. Be 
willing to be just as narrow as God’s great highway of 
reality that leads heavenward. The radiations of the 
six-sided life will carry beatitude to the widest horizons 
and will sweep upward to the throne of the Eternal. In- 
tensity is of greater worth than extensity. Quality is 
more important than quantity. Go after all out-doors 
and you get nothing but wind. The world is suffering 
from mental attenuation. It shows itself in superficiality 
and feebleness, which calls itself broadmindedness. A 
balanced, harmonious life is Christian personality at its 
best and bravest. The seven finalities of faith present 
the doctrinal substance calculated to make ease 
truly great. 







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THE FIRST FINALITY OF FAITH 
GOD IS 


§1. The Personality of God 


ONE of our processes of thought attains com- 

pletion until we accept the fact of the supreme, 

the absolute God who is revealed to us in the 
Bible. It must be universally conceded that the Bible 
everywhere emphasizes the personality of God. The use 
of the personal pronouns “I,” “My,” “Me,” “Thou,” in 
connection with Deity declares for his unquestioned per- 
sonality. Nothing shows the atheistic trend of modern 
thought more clearly than the growing tendency to deny 
the personality of God. So much emphasis has been 
placed upon the immanence of God that a pantheistic 
conception has taken the place of the idea of personality. 
In the Bible God is represented as willing, working, 
speaking, walking, seeing, hearing, and always in the 
sense that a Personal Being is engaged in all these things. 
He deals with man exactly as one personality would deal 
with another personality. It is because he is a personal 
and not an impersonal Deity that he can furnish a true 
basis of evidence. 

What could be more useless in developing human char- 
acter than the contemplation of a God who is merely 
pervasive power? Only a God of whom can be predicated 
personality with all its implications could possibly give 

13 


14 THe First FINAuItTy or Fara 


a human individual moral excellence and spiritual knowl- 
edge. A God who thinks, feels, sympathizes, communi- 
cates, upholds, indeed a God who cares, can alone ad- 
vantage us one iota in righteous living. Language could 
not be more explicit than is Biblical language in declaring 
for a divine personality. The everlasting “I” emphasizes 
it. The Biblical representation of God presents him to 
us as One exercising both will and power in creation, in 
upholding and governing, in enabling man to live right- 
eously. Who but a personal God could speak, hear, plan, 
warn, promise, plead, companion, direct, guard, guide, 
punish, and bless? He is represented as having close 
fellowship with his children. How ridiculous would be 
the thought of Fatherhood at all, if God were impersonal. 

It is a growing part of the present-day apostasy to deny 
God’s personality. But what sort of commerce can an 
individual hold with unpersonalized spirit? There is 
much foolish talk about the irrationality of anthropomor- 
phizing God—but why? In what terms is God to be 
thought of other than in terms of infinitely extended and 
infinitely perfected human personality? If we are to 
understand him at all and sustain reciprocal relations with 
him we are obliged to conceive of him as a Person. We 
must employ the modes of thought which will make God 
available and appropriable, else it is foolish and useless 
to think of him at all. 

For example, in our consciousness of weakness it is 
not sufficient to contemplate abstract Power. That helps 
no one. We want to know that the infinite Power is 
under the direction of a personal Wisdom and Will and 
that it is directed by personal Love. In the event of 
temporary failure what does it avail to think of God as 


Gop Is 15 


impersonal Spirit? Precisely as a child, becoming con- 
scious of its inability to meet some sudden demand for 
strength, turns to a wise and sympathetic father with 
assurance that the father’s love will meet the emergency 
because of loving personal relationship, so, likewise, if 
we are to be advantaged in the least by thoughts of God, 
we must understand that he deals with us not in the 
mass, but individualizes us and pffers his almightiness 
to meet our every necessity. 

Could anything be more inane than to attempt to pray 
to the cosmos? Hazy indefinite thoughts of a something 
that is merely dynamic but not rationally directed will 
lead a soul just as far as possible from the true concep- 
tion of Christianity’s God. The world is full of sadness 
and sorrow. Afflictions abound on every hand. If be- 
lief in God is to assist us it will be because we know he 
is sympathetic and freely offers his help. The long series 
of protestations of divine interest and friendship which 
we read in God’s Word are utterly meaningless except 
as we see in God One in whose image we are made and 
with whom we can hold understandable converse. God 
is as infinite in emotion as in wisdom. ‘The compassion 
of God is as important as his power. 

The Christian religion is thoroughly personal and in- 
dividualistic. Why? Because only thus can it be of the 
slightest value to us. To be sure, God is represented as 
dealing with society, as dealing with nations, and as 
dealing with races, but only because all of these are com- 
posed of individual units. Only a divine Person can 
deal with finite personalities. “Enoch walked with God.” 
Now what an absurdity to say, “Enoch walked with 
Cosmic Almightiness”! Undertake to apply the Psalms 


16 THe Firsr FINAuiry or FarrH 


of David to an impersonal God and the irrationality of 
this whole attempt to depersonalize God appears. Mere 
power cannot suffer, sympathize, or love. In all the deal- 
ings God had with Israel he is represented as possessing 
attributes like our own, only infinitely amplified and 
absolutely perfect. By studying ourselves and moving 
on along the lines of revelation we are able to arrive at 
an understanding of who, what, and where God is. 

We can walk with God, talk with God, think with God, 
and grow more perfectly like him because we were created 
by him for this very purpose. All of the great hymns 
of the faith breathe this personal relationship. Such 
hymns as “Nearer My God to Thee” find their sig- 
nificance in the fact that God is a Person into whose 
warm, affectionate embrace we may creep and rest. Noth- 
ing is more repellent to the child of God’s love who has 
come to know him, live with him and ‘in him, than to 
speak of God as “It,” which would be necessary if he 
is not definitely and distinctly personal. 

It is argued that personality involves limitations and 
that God cannot be limited, therefore he is not a Person. 
The answer is that personality as applied to God does not 
involve limitation. When we are dealing with the in- 
finite absolute we are dealing with the unconditioned and 
unlimited. Yet it does not antagonize one single law of 
thought to predicate of God personality. 

We have dwelt at length upon the personality of God 
because of the peril to Christianity resultant from its 
denial or half denial in Christian pulpits. It is only a 
step from such a position to that of bald atheism. 

Both Modernism and materialistic science have brought 
pressure to bear upon the students of theology to abandon 


Gop Is Li 


this doctrine, claiming that it is opposed to the findings 
of science. Now Christianity is never in conflict with 
true science. The conflict arises when on one side or the 
other a partial and not a complete knowledge is advanced 
as the whole truth. It is especially true that a conflict 
arises when the empirical sciences declare themselves as 
including all science and all truth. There are no facts 
of science in any domain of thought which are not recog- 
nized by theists, but the same cannot be said for the 
advocates and teachers of empirical science, because they 
are saturated with materialistic conceptions of God’s uni- 
verse, and are agnostic or atheistic at the very beginning 
of their investigations. When science enters the domain 
of theology it invariably begins to dogmatize. It is when 
a pseudo-science camouflages its atheistic position in the 
name of science, that theology comes into conflict with it. 

Personality is of the same kind in God and man. The 
difference is wholly one of degree. It has been objected 
that God is a Spirit and therefore not personal. This 
has no logical or rational basis. It does not in the 
slightest degree affect personality. Spirit is distinct from 
matter to be sure, but one’s personality is not determined 
by his relation, to the physical. Spirit may be associated 
with and act through material body. This indeed is true 
of every one of us. Yet who of us would deny his own 
personality? We surely do not expect an earthly body 
in the life after death, but we do not expect to be de- 
personalized. We are then to think of God as personal, 
absolute being, who created us, who sustains life, who 
acts with loftiest wisdom always under law, leaving noth- 
ing to chance or accident. Every possible contingency 
of the universe and each individual in it was known to 

Zz 


18 THe First Finauity or Faire 


God who has made full provision to meet every possible 
circumstance of personal life. 

The denial of the divine personality involves a rejec- 
tion of revelation as a matter of course. Along with 
that goes all idea of moral authority and also every pos- 
sible ground of assurance for immortality. Either God 
is a Person sufficiently comprehensible to enable fellow- 
ship between ourselves and him, or he has vanished and 
we are “without God in the world.” ‘The Christian re- 
ligion has gone when the personality of God has gone. 
“Jehovah spake unto Moses face to face, as a man 
speaketh unto his friend” (Exod. 33:11). In Hebrews 
we have the most emphatic declaration not alone of the 
personality of God but that he is to be conceived of as 
having form. It is clearly understood that he must be 
thought of in such terms and under such conditions as 
make him approachable and comprehensible for all pur- 
poses of communion. “Who being the brightness of his 
glory, and the express image of his person, and uphold- 
ing all things by the word of his power,” relates to Christ 
who bore the image of God. 


§2. The Atheistic Drift of Modernism 


Let us recognize that there is Modernism and Modern- 
ism. It is quite true that some who desire to be thought 
up to date are willing to accept the modernistic label 
even though it has come to mean a radical departure from 
the “faith which was once delivered unto the saints,” yet 
they retain some of the evangelical doctrines. Notwith- 
standing this, it is yet a fact that the avowed Modernist 
has gone a long way from the face value of the Gospel 
in his views of God, Christ, and Redemption. When the 


Gop Is 19 


drift toward agnosticism and rationalism has set in, the 
gap between evangelical and Modernist rapidly grows 
wider and wider. 

Prof. George Burman Foster of Chicago University 
is a good example of the natural goal of Modernism. 
The same may be said of Fagnani of Union Seminary. 
The influence of Professor Foster on his students was 
such as to lead many of them to abandon their purpose 
of entering the Christian ministry. The residuum of 
Christianity after Professor Foster had evaporated it did 
not seem worth retaining. Naturally these students 
drifted into the class of freethinkers which is next door 
to atheism. Of God he said, “God is a symbol to desig- 
nate the universe in its ideal-achieving capacity.” This 
is nothing less than identifying God with the universe. 
He claimed that we know practically nothing of certainty 
about Jesus Christ. His statement that Christianity is 
not the best nor the final religion is what might logically 
be expected from his anti-supernatural, atheistic position. 
But he simply carried to its logical conclusions the very 
positions now occupied by many ministers in evangelical 
churches who have rejected evangelical belief. 

The theology of liberalism will lead you side by side 
with Foster if you keep on the road long enough. ‘This 
is precisely the peril which many Modernists strangely 
ignore. Prof. Edward Scribner Ames has written a 
book dealing with the revolt against doctrinal theology 
called “The New Orthodoxy.” It would be much more 
proper to call the book “The New Unorthodoxy” since 
the views set forth have nothing in common with evan- 
gelical truths. Such men as Doctors Gates, Alden, Ellis, 
and Anderson all declare that the modernistic view is 


20 Tue First Finauiry or Farra 


utterly at variance with what has always been regarded 
as evangelical Christianity. There is a complete re- 
pudiation of the authority of the Christian Scriptures and 
an unqualified denial of Jesus Christ as the Son of God. 

How far astray modern thought has gone in the matter 
of human dependence upon God you may learn from 
the utterances of such men as Dr. John H. Boyd, Pro- 
fessor in the McCormick Theological Seminary. When 
Doctor Boyd was about ‘to enter upon his professorship 
he told the people whom he was leaving, “I have not 
pleaded with you to believe in God. I have not asked 
you to bring your sins to be forgiven primarily... I 
have asked you to believe in yourselves, in the dignity 
of man, and in the greatness of the human soul.” No 
one would for a moment disparage either the dignity of 
man or the greatness of the human soul, but to believe 
in self as distinct from believing in God, with the as- 
sumption that belief in self is sufficient, is a far cry 
from the Christian ideal of trust in the Almighty. 

President McGiffert of Union Theological Seminary 
says, “We have learned not to think of the Bible as a 
final and infallible authority, and have come to see that 
there is not such authority and that we need none.” ‘This 
of course throws the Biblical conception of God into the 
discard. 

Prof. George B. Foster said, “One may say that not 
supernatural regeneration but natural growth, not di- 
vine sanctification but human education, . . . not Christ 
the Lord but the man Jesus who was a child of his time, 
not God in his providence but evolution and its process, 
without an absolute goal, that all this and such as this is 
the new turn in the affairs of religion.” Invariably the 


Gop Is 21 


rejection of the authority of the Bible is followed by the 
rejection of the authority of Jesus Christ. A minister 
in an evangelical church had the audacity to say, ‘““My 
ultimate standard is not Christ, neither the Christ of his- 
tory nor the Christ of faith.” 

With the Modernist, religion has thus ceased entirely to 
mean what it has always meant to the world. Edward 
Scribner Ames says, “Religion is an extraordinary en- 
thusiasm for a cause.” Professor Sellars of the Uni- 
versity of Michigan says, ‘“‘Religion is loyalty to the values 
of life.” In these utterances we discover that there is noth- 
ing left of that which has always been central in the 
Christian religion, namely, a definite and positive rela- 
tionship to a personal God through the willing acceptance 
of Jesus Christ. These men, to be sure, talk much about 
social well-being, and various kinds of loyalties, and a 
good deal about morality, but they furnish no true mo- 
tive for any of these things. Evangelical Christianity is 
far more urgent with respect to social obligations than 
these anti-supernaturalists could possibly be. The dif- 
ference is that Christianity furnishes a logical foundation 
and motive for a true ethic. While requiring all the 
higher qualities of life, the Gospel goes very much farther 
and presents a reasonable ground for the realization of 
our highest ideals and an adequate motive for the higher 
moralities. 

How can men who talk about the democratization of 
God, the mere humanity of Jesus Christ, the unauthorita- 
tive nature of the Bible, be expected to present a true 
philosophy of religion when the very essence of religion 
itself is thus discarded? If, as they claim, the human 
soul is only a development of the animal mind and the 


22; THe First FINALITY oF FAITH 


very highest in man is only the unfolding of resident 
forces in what was the animal mind, naturally religion 
loses its vital significance. 

What hope can there be that young men will go forth 
from modernistic educational institutions with any proper 
sense of God, duty, destiny, when teachers like Prof. 
Roy W. Sellars leave the impress of their anti-supernat- 
uralism and irreligion upon the minds of their pupils? 
He says, ‘Such expectations as prayer, worship, immor- 
tality, providence, are expressions of the pre-scientific 
view of the world, but as man partly outgrows, partly 
learns to reject the primitive thought of the world, this 
perspective and these elements will drop from religion.” 
How utterly ridiculous to call the residuum, after these 
things have been dropped, religion at all. 

Now the fact is, no man who has had real transactions 
with God doubts for one moment any of these things 
which Professor Sellars rejects. As expressed by large 
numbers of our instructors in theological seminaries to- 
day, Modernism and infidelity are interchangeable terms. 
They do not for a moment teach or believe in Christian 
experience in the evangelical sense. Christian experience 
as it has been taught by the Church, and as the Bible 
very definitely portrays it, means the establishment and 
development of a relationship with God whereby man is 
made a new creature in Jesus Christ, firmly and unalter- 
ably believing in the Atonement, therefore in personal 
salvation, together with a conscious fellowship with a 
personal God. 

It is unquestionably true that religious certitude is 
utterly impossible if you accept modernistic postulates. 
Doctor McGiffert’s declaration, that “agnosticism touch- 


Gop Is 23 


ing many matters formerly deemed fundamental has come 
to be the common attitude on the part of religious men 
and even of theologians,” is true except that we may 
properly refuse to make the application of the term “‘re- 
ligious men” and in any proper sense the application of 
the term “theologian” to those who have so utterly de- 
parted from the great foundation truths of religion. For 
a long time the changes have been rung on religious ex- 
perience as furnishing a proper basis on which to build 
any true system of theology. Even liberals have now 
discovered the foolishness of such an attempt. 

Dean Fenn of Harvard has recently said that the mod- 
ernistic conception of Jesus Christ “is incompatible with 
religious certainty and finality.” Doctor Fenn declares 
that all Liberalists know this and hence deny both cer- 
tainty and finality to the various articles of our Chris- 
tian faith. This simply means that Liberalism leads no- 
where spiritually but to the dismal swamps of incertitude 
and unrest concerning the very things in life which are 
of supremest importance. At the very point where we 
should be left upon the rock of unshaken validity we are 
left in the mire of doubt and despair. The entire mod- 
ernistic trend is away from any sort of certainty what- 
soever respecting spiritual reality. This fact is unblush- 
ingly accepted by the very men who are seeking to secure 
a following. Professor Sellars makes this apparent when 
he says, “The Church must give up the idea that it can 
teach final truth on any subject.” What a cheering out- 
look this must be to our modernistic brethren. As a 
matter of fact, nothing is farther from the truth than 
such a statement. It is utterly false as is attested by the 
application of tests of logical and philosophical truth, 


24 Tue First FInAuiry or Farru 


and by the Christian experience of uncounted multitudes. 
How superfluous, how stupid, how foolish to attempt any 
theological teaching at all while at the same time denying 
any immovable foundations for religious truth! 

Yet it is not so difficult to understand how such a 
position is arrived at. The abandonment of any au- 
thoritative revelation removes the possibility of any secure 
foundation for Christian theology. To retain the name 
of God without the true content divests religion of its 
reality from start to finish. God is identified with ‘“‘cos- 
mic forces.” Modernism tells us that God is to be 
thought of simply as the sum total of the resident forces 
in the universe, and that he has no existence apart from 
what we call nature. How entirely contrary to all that 
is the thought that nature is merely the name of that of 
which God is the creative and ruling cause! Why pro- 
test against thinking of God in the only way in which 
he can be thought of as God at all? We are told that 
to think of God as a personal God is so to humanize him 
as to eliminate his chief qualities. Nothing seems so 
unacceptable to the Modernist as to conceive of God as 
one in whose likeness we have been made and whose 
thoughts, feelings, and activities are such that we can 
enter into fellowship with him. Communion demands 
likeness. 

There is no reason to think of God at all unless we 
can think of him in terms of communion. Communica- 
tion is not possible except where there is correspondence. 
We talk of communion with nature, to be sure, but as a 
matter of fact there is no true communion with nature 
until through nature we are brought face to face with 
the Author of nature. Spelling nature with a capital 


Gop Is 25 


“N” does not change the situation in the least. It is 
God, in, with, and behind nature with whom, in reality, 
we are communing when we talk of communing with 
nature. 


§3. God as the Bible Presents Him 


The Biblical conception of God could scarcely be better 
stated than in the words of the Westminster divine, ‘“God 
is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his be- 
ing, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and 
truth.” The triunity of God is clearly taught. This 
triunity is represented in three persons — Father, Son, 
and Holy Ghost. God is represented at the very outset 
of revelation as purposefully acting creatively. “In the 
beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” The 
first utterance is his word, ‘Let there be light.’’ In re- 
lation to man, God is represented as giving definite direc- 
tion to primeval man and exercising his sovereign 
authority in specific commands. The fellowship estab- 
lished at the outset being broken again, God is represented 
as walking in the garden in the cool of the day and 
pathetically appealing to Adam in the words, ‘Where 
art thou?” ‘ 

The whole record of Old Testament revelation repre- 
sents God as walking, talking, planning, programming 
with man as one person would with another. Of course 
in all this he is represented as infinite, eternal, immutable. 
He declares himself as having existed from all eternity. 
His absolute sovereignty is everywhere assumed and at 
no point conflicts in the least with the closest intimacy. 
The inquiry is presented, ‘Would it not be disastrous to 
retain the idea of imperialism in God when the whole 


26 Tue First Finauity or FArrH 


world is moving toward democracy?’ How absurd to 
compare the relations of an infinite Creator whose wisdom 
and power are adequate to every need of humanity, and 
behind whose so-called autocracy and imperialism love 
is ever the actuating motive, with human sovereignties 
so limited and lacking in all the qualities which insure a 
beneficent rule! The Biblical doctrine of God presents 
him as sustaining the relation of a father to his children, 
while at the same time he sustains the relation of a 
benevolent and beneficent sovereign to his subjects. “I 

. will be your God, and ye shall be my people” (Lev. 
263 /12.)t 

What could more beautifully indicate the closeness of 
our relationship with God than the fact that in all of our 
ordinary activities he is a coworker with us? “We are 
labourers together with God” (1 Cor. 3:9). So far is 
his wisdom beyond the wisdom of the wisest human 
sages that we are told, “The wisdom of this world is 
foolishness with God” (1 Cor. 3:19). Aloofness and 
imperial might for its own sake are not characteristic of 
him. On the contrary he is our defense, our help, our 
upholder, when all supports are slipping away. We are 
never left without his sustaining “The eternal God is 
thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms” 
(Deut. 3327). 

At the very beginning of Old Testament religion those 
in high places of trust were assured that they could 
depend wholly upon divine support. “God is my strength” 
(2 Sam. 22:33). ‘Behold, God is mine helper” (Psa. 
54:4). “God is our refuge and strength, a very present 
help in trouble” (Psa. 46:1). The most tender words 
are employed to indicate the sympathy of the sovereign 


Gop Is 27 


God. The fact of his almightiness only increases the 
blessedness of the close relationship vouchsafed. What 
could better represent divine gentleness, pity, and sym- 
pathy than “[He is] a father of the fatherless’? (Psa. 
68 : 5.) 

Even in the expression of his judgments against Israel 
there was no resentment nor was there any disposition 
to regard the exercise of the sovereign power of God 
as tyrannical. The Psalmist with holy enthusiasm could 
declare, “Truly God is good to Israel” (Psa. 73:1). 
Instead of exercising an arbitrary power it was recog- 
nized that notwithstanding his majesty and imperialism 
he expressed all the considerateness of kindly love. ‘He 
hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us 
according to our iniquities.” Huis forgiveness and mercy 
are dwelt on at far greater length than are his just 
condemnations and visitations of judgment. “The Lord 
_ God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant 
in goodness and truth” (Exod. 34:6). 

Never, however, is there any disposition to question the 
omnipotence or majesty or glory of God in order to stress 
his gentleness and goodness. The two are thought to be 
perfectly consonant and harmonious with each other. 
“The mighty God . . . hath spoken” (Psa. 50:1). “The 
Lord thy God is among you, a mighty God” (Deut. 7: 
21). There could be scarcely any greater indication of 
the perfect consistency of regarding God as sovereign, a 
great ruler, an imperial master even, while at the same 
time sustaining a relationship of beautiful oneness with 
his children than the constant use of the possessive pro- 
noun “my.” “I. . . cried to my God” (2 Sam. 22:7). 
“Remember me, O my God” (Neh. 13:14). “Thou art 


28 THe First Finauity or Farira 


my God” (Psa, 31:14). “My soul shall be joyful in 
my God” (Isa. 61:10). “I thank my God through Jesus 
Christ for you all” (Rom. 1:8). “My God shall supply 
all your need” (Phil. 4:19). 

There was also a ready recognition of God’s collective 
relationship to his people. ‘This God is our God for 
ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death”’ 
(Psa. 48:14). “Our God. . . will abundantly pardon” 
(Isa. 55:7). Would any “democratization” of God 
bring him in closer relationship to man than his own 
declaration of his love, his sympathy, and his fellowship 
as indicated in such passages as “Be not dismayed; for 
I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; I will help thee; 
yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my right- 
eousness”’ ? 

When Professor McGiffert says we want a God not 
to whom we have to submit, but who sustains brotherly 
relations with us, he seems to forget that liberty itself is 
dependent upon obedience. Submission to God is the 
secret of conscious, spiritual liberty. The result of it is 
always a sense of freedom, and new power, and exhaust- 
less resource. Submission does not mean enslavement 
nor does it mean in any unfavorable sense subservience. 
It means a ready yielding to a wisdom and a power in- 
finitely beyond our own. “Submit yourselves therefore 
to God” is the exhortation of James (4:7). 

This same sovereign God whom we are asked to re- 
pudiate in his sovereignty is presented to us as a burden 
bearer. ‘‘Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall 
sustain thee” (Psa. 55:22). At the same time he is 
absolutely just, and exercises no such leniency as ignores 
the sinfulness of sin or makes a travesty of law. “Justice 


Gop Is 29 


and judgment are the habitation of thy throne” (Psa. 
89:14). What could be more beautiful than the thought 
of his protection? “He shall give his angels charge over 
thee, to keep thee in all thy ways” (Psa.91:11). “When 
thou passeth through the waters, I will be with thee; 
and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: 
when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be 
burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee” (Isa. 
43:2). 

The Christian Church has never thought of his sover- 
eignty and his infinitude as at all improper, or in any 
sense a hindrance to the appropriation of these promises 
of God. On the contrary, the value of all the divine 
promises hinges upon the divine might of the Infinite. 
He can be a Saviour only because he is sovereign. What 
is needed today is a clearer recognition of the greatness 
of God, the goodness of God, and the personality of God. 
“Let all the . . . world stand in awe of him” (Psa. 33: 
8). “In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the 
strength of the hills is his also” (Psa. 95:4). 

The omnipresence of a personal God is indispensable 
to unremitting fellowship. “If I ascend up into heaven, 
thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou 
art there’ (Psa, 139:8). “The’ eyes of the Lord are 
in every place” (Prov. 15:3). How could we look to 
God with any expectation of deriving benefit and blessing 
were it not for his omniscience and omnipotence? “All 
things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with 
whom we have to do” (Heb. 4:13). “Thou knowest my 
downsitting and mine uprising” (Psa. 139:2). Thus 
and thus only could the provisions of his bounty and his 
tender care avail for us in our time of need. “Casting all 


30 THe First Finanuity or Faire 


your care upon him; for he careth for you” (1 Pet. 5: 
7). “He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven 
there shall no evil touch thee” (Job 5:19). Ina world 
filled with turmoil, stress and storm it is the great and 
gracious God who affords peace to the soul. ‘Thou wilt 
keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: 
because he trusteth in thee” (Isa. 26:3). “In the secret 
of his tabernacle shall he hide me” (Psa. 27:5). 

If, therefore, all through the history of Christianity 
these same thoughts of God have been promotive of the 
spirit of worship and adoration, why should it be thought 
desirable to abandon such doctrines? How shallow, how 
empty, how unbiblical, how unreasonable to reject all 
these great truths and facts which have had continuous 
demonstration for six thousand years, and substitute for 
them an impersonal God who is in reality no God at all! 

To those who doubt the fact that a knowledge of God 
is possible we commend the reading of Prof. James Mark 
Baldwin’s “Fragments in Philosophy and Science.” In 
this we read, ‘Is there such a thing as knowledge? If 
so, of what? Of an external world, of self, of God? 
What is truth? Answer this with the Positivist who 
admits no knowledge but of the external world, to whom 
consciousness has no legitimate voice, to whom the inner 
world is an illusion, and then take stock of human life. 
It is then measured in terms of the yardstick and the 
pound — it is of value as it is brought into relation to 
the profits and losses of trade or the utilities of material 
acquisition. But the affirmative answer to the question, 
‘Can we find truth?’ brings back the worth of living. If 
our natural knowledge is true then science is possible, dis- 
covery and invention are leading us on to the ultimate 


Gop Is 31 


revelation of nature’s secret things; if the mind works 
true then its intimations of spiritual realities, of emo- 
tional satisfactions, of self-realization by self-control and 
choice of the best are worth while and so are its assur- 
ances of a goal and a destiny . . . God is the reality 
which our moral and spiritual nature needs and finds. 
What we need in God is a presence personal, not a logical 
postulate. To the deist, God is not a presence, he is far 
off. He is not a citizen of the world — our mental world 
——he is the director of a machine.” 

There is nothing cold, distant, unfeeling, or incompre- 
hensible in the Christian conception of God. He is one 
whose presence warms our hearts, clarifies our thinking, 
insures our progress, and participates in our experiences. 
He is not only known but he is affectionately known. He 
is trusted, loved, and obeyed. He plans our lives and 
then empowers us to carry out the plan successfully. All 
this brings about the familiarity with the Infinite which 
is not in the slightest degree sacrilegious but which enters 
into our daily experiences, increasing our joy and creating’ 
the profoundest enthusiasms. 

So final is the faith that God is that the Bible never 
even attempts to prove it or suggest the necessity of 
proofs —it assumes it and proceeds upon that assump- 
tion. Indeed, the man who is atheistic is assumed to be 
mentally below par. “The fool hath said in his heart, 
There is no God.” In addition to the fact of God’s 
existence, the Bible writers recognized that a sufficient 
acquaintance with God is possible to meet the deeper 
needs of the heart. Our information regarding the di- 
vine attributes is necessarily contributed by the inspired 
Word. While the proofs of God’s existence are not 


oe THe First FInauiry or FAIrH 


logically absolute, they are adequate, they are entirely 
corroborative of the intuitional knowledge we have of 
God, and they have all the value of mathematical proof. 

Doctor Orr, the learned theologian of Glasgow, whose 
erudition gives much authority to his utterances, said: 
“What we mean by the proof of God’s existence is simply 
that there are necessary acts of thought by which we rise 
from the finite to the infinite, from the caused to the 
uncaused, from the contingent to the necessary, from the 
reason involved in the structure of the universe to a 
universal and eternal reason which is the ground of all, 
from morality in conscience to a moral Lawgiver and 
Judge.” In this connection theoretical proofs constitute 
an inseparable unity, — “constitute together,’ as Doctor 
Stirling declares, “but the undulations of a single wave, 
which wave is but a natural rise and ascent to God, on 
the part of Man’s own thought, with man’s own ex- 
perience and consciousness as the object before him.” 

It seemed to anthropologists making excursions into 
Patagonia that there were tribes without any sort of be- 
lief in God. Further investigations have proved the first 
conclusions not well fcunded since religion, though very 
crude, is found to have a real place in the thought of the 
very lowest tribes. The conclusion that the idea of God 
is universal is reached by the best thinkers, and this very 
universality of belief has something to do with the Bible 
assuming instead of proving that God is. 

Jesus defined God as Spirit. “God is a Spirit: and 
they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in 
truth” (John 4:23). This definition means that God is 
without visible form. We apprehend him spiritually; 
soul apprehending soul. ‘The natural man receiveth not 


Gop Is 33 


the things of the Spirit of God . . . they are spiritually 
discerned” (1 Cor. 2:14). Notwithstanding this, man 
was made in the divine image and there must be some 
reality connected with the word image. This reality we 
find in attributes and qualities of character. Reason, 
moral sense, self-consciousness, and reflective thought 
represent how we are imaged after God. The Bible 
declares emphatically for the divine personality yet as- 
serts that God is Spirit. 

One of the most significant of all Scripture assertions 
is that found in Exodus 3:14: “J am that I am.’ This 
marks God as personal and eternally existent. There was 
no time when God was not, and there never will be a 
time when he is not. 

Dr. William Evans has admirably arranged the names 
given to God as indicating his personality. 

Jehovah-jireh: The Lord will provide (Gen. 22:13, 
14). 

Jehovah-rapha: The Lord that healeth (Exod. 15: 
26). 

Jehovah-nissi: The Lord our banner (Exod. 17:8- 
hg 

Jehovah-shalom: The Lord our peace (Judges 6:24). 

Jehovah-ra-ah: The Lord my shepherd (Psa. 23:1). 

Jehovah-tsidkenu: The Lord our righteousness (Jer. 
23:6). 

Jehovah-shammah: The Lord is present (Ezek. 48: 
shed 

God is represented as acting as only a person could 
act. He loves, he commands, he rebukes, he judges, he 
is angry, he pleads, he protects, he upholds, he builds, he 
destroys. 


3 


34. THe Frrest Finauiry or Farra 


There is no attempt in the Bible to explain either the 
unity or the trinity as related to God. Both are un- 
equivocally taught. “The Lord our God is one” (Deut. 
6:4). “There is none other God but one” (1 Cor. 8: 
4). The oneness of God is so stressed all through the 
Bible that there can be no question that the Bible intends 
that fact to be ineradicably inscribed in mind and heart. 
But it is equally true that the tri-unity of God is pre- 
sented as a necessary fact. A plurality of persons in the 
eternal Godhead is plainly taught. In Genesis 1:26 we 
read, “And God said, Let us make man in our image.” 
This is known as the plural of majesty. All three persons 
of the Godhead are represented as participating in that 
notable event when the seal of the Father was granted to 
Christ at his baptism in Jordan. There was the Spirit 
in the form of a dove; there was the divine voice of the 
Father, and there was the Son Beloved. 

One of the holiest of religious acts is the sacrament of 
baptism. Jesus himself gave direction as to the formula. 
“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them 
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
Holy Ghost.” Paul presents a form of benediction which 
teaches the Trinity. ‘The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, 
and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy 
Ghost.” Each of these Persons is revealed to us as hay- 
ing divine attributes. Each is God as constituting one 
God. We simply have to accept it if we accept the Bible. 
The Bible does not teach that there are three Gods; that 
is not the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. It is that 
three-foldness represents the very essence of God. God 
the Father is “the invisible God.” God the Son is “God 

. manifest in the flesh,’ who was visible and ap- 


Gop Is 35 


proachable and apprehended by the senses. God the Holy 
Spirit is God taking possession of the human mind and 
heart, regenerating, transforming, enlightening, and per- 
fecting the life. 

From this triune God nothing is hidden. “His under- 
standing is infinite’ (Psa. 147:5). “For the ways of 
man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he pondereth 
all his goings” (Prov. 5:21). “God. . . knoweth all 
things” (1 John 3:20). “There is not a word in my 
tongue, but, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether.” 
There is nothing past, present, or future but what he 
fully knows. God knows every possible contingent in 
the case of every human life, and thus makes place for 
his own activity in answering prayer. 

It is equally true that God is all powerful, omnipotent. 
When we say God can do anything we mean anything 
not contrary to his holy nature. He can do no wrong 
for that would contradict his own holy nature. God can 
do all things right, and good, and necessary for the bene- 
fit and blessing of his creatures. Creation was the exer- 
cise of God’s omnipotence. “He spake and it was done” 
(reanoo sii! And) Godiisaid.) (2%) and wit, .was;so'! 
(Gen. 1). The visible universe is the will of God and 
the thought of God objectified and visualized. He has 
the power to express his wisdom, will, and love by bring- 
ing into being that which was not. His power is ex- 
pressed in controlling and directing nature. He “raiseth 
the stormy wind . . . he maketh the storm a calm” 
(Psa. 107: 25, 29). All power is in reality an expression 
of divine power. Our very life is dependent upon divine 
energy. Every breath we draw is through his manifested 
energy. God is all in all to his children. He is actively 


36 THe First FINAuITY oF Faire 


present in his universe. This truth is immensely impor- 
tant. 

Deism dismisses God from his universe as an active and 
present participant. It is untrue and largely destroys the 
value of prayer, making the material universe a terrible 
monster, moving on without a guiding hand, even though 
under laws eternally determined. What a difference in 
our thought of the world to know that he commands, 
and that he is an immediate participant in nature itself, 
employing natural agencies to carry out his deep de- 
signs in behalf of his children! 


God moves in a mysterious -way 
His wonders to perform; 

He plants His footsteps in the sea, 
And rides upon the storm. 


Deep in unfathomable mines 
Of never-failing skill 

He treasures up His deep designs, 
And works His sovereign will. 


The nature of God admits of his omnipresence at all 
times. There is no place where he is not. “Whither shall 
I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy 
presence?” (Psa. 139:7). “How precious also are thy 
thoughts unto me . . . when I awake, I am still with 
thee” (Psa. 139:17, 18). “Lo, I am with you alway” 
(Matt. 28:20). This presence of God means a definite, 
interested presence and not some vague pervasive mystical 
influence. He is wherever a child of humanity may be 
and calls for his help. ‘Thou God seest me” (Gen. 16: 
13). 

Dr. William Evans in his book, ‘“The Great Doctrines 
of the Bible,” quotes the answer of a deaf and dumb 


Gop Is 37 


pupil in a Paris institution who was asked what his idea 
of the eternity of God was: “It is duration without be- 
ginning or end; existence without bounds or dimension; 
present without past or future. His eternity is youth 
without infancy or old age; life without birth or death; 
today without yesterday or tomorrow.” What could more 
comprehensively or impressively set forth the fact of the 
unchangeable and eternal in God. 

In our thought of God none of his natural attributes 
satisfies our ideal of perfect being without the added 
knowledge of the moral attributes of God. ‘To know 
that God is power and that he is everywhere present 
might bring terror instead of peace to the heart. What 
are his qualities as relates to the moral ideal? 

The Bible again comes definitely to our assistance and 
presents to us God as ineffably holy, just, and good. 
The heartening effect of this is beyond words. And yet 
as we shall see later, the very holiness of God brings its 
startling revelation of our own imperfection and lost- 
ness since unholiness and holiness can have no fellowship 
together. “Thus saith the high and lofty One that in- 
habiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the 
high and holy place” (Isa. 57:15). “But as he which 
hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of 
conversation; because it is written, Be ye holy; for I 
am holy” (1 Pet. 1:15, 16). If God is holy it follows 
inevitably that he is just. Here again, while it is un- 
speakably blessed to know that God is the personification 
of all that is just, yet to the sinner violating his law 
something else is needed to remove fear, This some- 
thing we find in his mercy. ‘Gracious is the Lord, and 
righteous; yea, our God is merciful” (Psa. 116:5). 


38 THe First FINALITY oF FaitrH 


“Tf we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive 
us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” 
(1 John 1:9). “The Lord is merciful and gracious, 
slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy” (Psa. 103:8). 
“But he that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass 
him about” (Psa. 32:10). 

The supreme fact regarding God is that he is love. 
His power and wisdom ‘are ever under the direction of 
his love. The very essence of his nature is expressed in 
the one word “love.” This attribute was forever true 
of God. Jesus declares it in his prayer, ‘Thou lovedst 
me before the foundation of the world.” Jesus in his 
night interview with Nicodemus makes the whole scheme 
of salvation to hinge on the fact of the eternal love of 
God for a lost world. ‘For God so loved the world, 
that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever be- 
lieveth in him should not perish, but have everlasting 
life” (John 3:16). 

He then is our God. With what courage, confidence, 
and full assurance of faith should we approach the 
throne. To rob a soul of this beautiful conception of 
God, yea, to rob a soul of God himself by seeking to 
create disbelief in his sovereignty, his personality, his 
presence, his goodness and mercy is of all crimes of 
which man can be guilty, the most heinous and repre- 
hensible. It is to tear away the rose and leave a thorn 
in its place. Apostasy destroys no reality. God is, though 
millions disown him. To trust him, love him, and obey 
him is life indeed. 


I] 


THE SECOND FINALITY OF FAITH 
GOD CREATED 


§1. An Inescapable Inquiry 
| ee VISIBLE world about us asks a thousand 


questions which we are bound to attempt to an- 

swer. It is a world full of wisdom, beauty, and 
power. It is an ordered universe that greets us as we 
look out upon nature. It is a world of ceaseless motion. 
Nature is in an endless flux: birth, growth, seed, germina- 
tion, flower, fruit, and then once more to the soil; 
the changing seasons; suns and planets moving regularly 
and rhythmically. The law of circularity is pronounced 
and ceaseless: vapor, lifted from the ocean and borne 
on the winds in cloudy chariots, is deposited upon the 
earth, and returns again to the ocean. Every leaf and 
every petal is a story of purposeful formation. 

There is no part of nature exempt from the operation 
of law. Nothing is haphazard or accidental. Amid all 
the transformations, all the wonderful mutations, order 
is evident. Law operates. The minutest substances, the 
tiniest bit of dust, are marvels of law expression. Reg- 
ularity and adjustment impress us as we enter upon a 
study of matter and life and growth. Even a superficial 
study of the inorganic world reveals the most extraor- 
dinary regularity, with proportion and harmony. We 
soon learn that we are living in a world where mathe- 

39 


40 THE SECOND FINALITY OF FaitH 


matical precision exists. Nature abounds in harmonious 
forms and motion which challenge admiration and 
thought. When considering the complex wholes which 
exist in countless numbers, we note that their collocation 
and combination is like the relations of the parts of a 
great organism in which each part is inseparably related 
to every other. We discover that we are in a “mathe- 
matical’? universe; numerical law is absolute and with- 
out exception. We find also that bulk, weight, and meas- 
ure have to do with motion and the relations of all bodies 
to each other. 

We ask ourselves why it is that in their movements 
the heavenly bodies describe circles, ellipses, parabolas, 
and hyperbolas. We bring to our aid the devices of in- 
ventors, and so increase our power of vision that we 
push back the firmament millions of miles and find that 
we are still only at the frontiers of the larger universe. 
The very immensities appall us. We are able to group 
the stars into constellations, to weigh and measure them, 
and, with the aid of the spectrum, we can determine a 
multitude of facts respecting bodies vastly remote from 
us. We learn that the light from distant stars has been 
traveling at the speed of 186,300 miles a second for thou- 
sands of years, and that perchance some of the stars we 
seem to be looking at on a bright night may have been 
extinguished long, long ago. 

We find that the same chemical laws hold with respect 
to remote orbs as are applied to the planet on which 
we live. Magnitude and mass, rate and distance, all tell 
of inexorable and inevitable law. Law is operative on 
a magnificent scale in the heavenly bodies. Our planet 
sustains very fixed relations to the sun and the various 


Gop CREATED 41 


members of our solar system. Were this not so we could 
not depend on the regularity of the recurring time of sow- 
ing seed with the assurance of gathering in a harvest. The 
relationship of the members of the solar system to the 
earth is so unalterable that calculations can be made fore- 
telling to the fraction of a second the beginning and end 
of a coming eclipse of sun or moon. The flow and ebb 
of the tides of the ocean are undeviating, and everywhere 
phenomenon presents itself speaking clearly of mathe- 
matical accuracy in the whole sweep of the solar system. 
We project our studies and observations, and lo! thou- 
sands of systems far greater than our own are discovered 
to exist, and all under the same orderly procedure and 
controlled by the same mathematical laws. 

How can the universe be thus filled with moving bodies 
and anything like safety from collision be guaranteed? 
Whence? How? Why? Whither? We are compelled by 
the very laws of thinking to ask these questions. There 
is no escape from it without the complete stultification 
of thought. How quickly and how surely would catas- 
trophe, destruction, and doom be visited upon any one 
of these moving bodies if the orbit in which it moves were 
changed! How is it that through countless ages this 
orderly procedure has had no exception? We know be- 
yond the suggestion of a doubt exactly where each one 
that has come within our observation will be at a given 
moment. Something seems to hold each of the heavenly 
bodies to a path that is so well known that it is recorded. 
Even the comets, those seemingly erratic bodies, are suf- 
ficiently governed so that their return can be foretold. 
The laws and regularity of the heavenly bodies have, 
throughout all time, awakened the admiration and amaze- 


42 THE SECOND FINALITY OF FAITH 


ment of observers, and have led to profound inquiry as 
to their origin and method of continuance. Day and 
night alternate and seasons succeed each other unfail- 
ingly. How did it all come about? 

Furthermore, instead of so working as to endanger 
any part or the whole, exactly the opposite is true. All 
work for the advantage of each, and each helps to control 
the whole, and altogether they contribute to the well-being 
of humanity. If the study of immensities stimulates 
thought and presents innumerable questions, not less is it 
true in the world of nature that the infinitesimal and the 
minute compel us to deal with the same interrogations. 

Chemistry is one of the most fascinating of the sciences. 
Here we are dealing with the substances that go to make 
up our material world. We learn that the number of 
simple substances is not large. Yet how endless is the 
variety as a result of compounding these same simple sub- 
stances! It is soon learned that there is nothing acci- 
dental or haphazard about the chemical combinations. 
Each element has properties of its own which have to 
be respected. Each refuses to be united with another if 
the combining proportions and conditions are not right. 
By experimentation the chemist has learned how to effect 
results in thousands of cases and is able to render the larg- 
est assistance to the arts, sciences, and industries. 

The only reason the science of chemistry can perform 
such a large service is that here, as in the case of the 
heavenly bodies, mathematical laws are exact in their ap- 
plication. Combinations require an accurate ratio numer- 
ically. There is never the slightest question as to results 
when substances, the elements of which are known and 
which have been found to act in a defined way once, are 


Gop CREATED 43 


compounded in exact proportions. Always and invariably 
these elements act according to a fixed mathematical law 
and can be relied on to do nothing different. Except for 
this reign of law in the minutest chemical substances we 
should be in constant danger of imperiling life itself. 

But how can it be that specific properties belong to 
each particle of matter in the vast universe? Why is it 
that slight proportional changes in chemical compounds 
give us such different results? How is it that just the 
right proportions obtain to secure vegetable life and 
growth? Why is it that all is so accurately determined 
that only good results from nature’s constant chemical 
activity? How can the roots of plants and trees gather 
to themselves exactly those substances that contribute to 
growth, and reject that which would endanger their very 
life? Whence came these property determinations of the 
elements? 

An illuminating paragraph in “Theism” by Professor 
Robert Flint is quite in point here: “One of the chiefs 
of modern chemistry, Baron von Liebig, points to that 
which takes place when rain falls on the soil of a field 
adapted to vegetable growth as to something which ‘effec- 
tually strikes all human wisdom dumb.’ ‘During the 
filtration of rain water,’ he says, ‘through the soil, the 
earth does not surrender one particle of nutritive matter 
which it contains that is available for vegetable growth 
(such as potash, silicic acid, ammonia, and the like): the 
most unintermittent rain is unable to abstract from it 
(except by the mechanical action of floods) any of the 
chief requisites for its fertility. The particles of mold 
not only retain all matter nutritive to vegetable growth 
but also immediately absorb all such as are contained in 


44. Tue SECOND FINALITY oF FAITH 


the rain water (ammonia, potash, and the like). But only 
such substances are absorbed from the water as are in- 
dispensable requisites for vegetable growth; others re- 
main either entirely or, for the most part, in a state of 
solution.’ ” 

It does not answer our questions of Whence? Why? 
How? and Whither? to tell us that through the long 
ages the earth came to-be as it is through processes of 
chemical synthesis. It only increases the urge with which 
we press for answers to the questions. There must be 
some explanation that will satisfy the intelligence. The 
source and the end in view press for an answer. But we 
have only begun our exploration into the world of time 
and sense. At every turn some new marvel of adjust- 
ment and adaptation is discovered. There is some new 
mystery which we are not content shall remain a mystery. 
We have been considering the marvels of inanimate na- 
ture and have found ourselves increasingly seeking to find 
out how it all came about. When we turn to the study of 
vegetable and animal organisms we are astounded at our 
discoveries. 

At once we find a simply marvelous power in vegetable 
life to appropriate to its own uses the chemical substances 
necessary to maintain life. We find even greater marvel- 
ousness in the way in which animal life utilizes vegetable 
organisms for its own benefit. In vegetable life we are 
faced with the extraordinary fact that reproduction is 
invariably held to its own type. Every seed reproduces 
exactly according to the plant, shrub, or tree from which 
it came. ‘There are no variations so great as to make 
an entirely new type or kind. The seeds of walnut, or- 
ange, apple, peach, pear or currant never produce any- 


Gop CREATED 45 


thing radically different from the parent type. This 
pertains to every seed, from the smallest plant life to the 
great sequoia tree. Even so-called “freaks” hold suff- 
ciently to “kind” as to be merely variants, and never a 
new species. The laws of fertilization are so fixed that 
no ingenuity of man can compel a change of nature’s 
laws. Modifications, such as changes of color or elimi- 
nation of thorns from cactus and rosebush, do not change 
the main fact. A thousand interesting facts prove that 
the vegetable kingdom is as much under the control and 
direction of law as inanimate matter is. In point of 
structure we find mathematical definiteness obtains just 
as it does in atom or electron. 

Many interesting facts present themselves to the mind 
in the study of light, heat, and electricity. The facts 
presented are of such a nature that it is impossible to 
believe that they were not intelligently provided for. 

In the study of art and music, the laws of harmony, 
with the surprising accuracy of mathematical application, 
make impossible the thought of accidental origination. 

In crystallization we have another of those surprising 
and positive mathematical applications of law presenting 
geometrical proportions and relations without variance. 
Every snowflake takes a form definitely its own. All 
substances that crystallize follow a clearly defined plan. 
The mind refuses to accept the idea that this could have 
been accidental. If one is to consider the material world 
in its preparation to sustain life, and then follow on in 
the introduction of life, vegetable and animal, he cannot 
fail to be astounded at the constant declaration of under- 
lying purpose. 

There are nearly a hundred simple substances constitut- 


46 THE SECOND FINALITY oF FaitH 


ing the material world. We find just four elements stand- 
ing out conspicuously as indispensable to animal and plant 
life. They are carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen. 
How remarkable that we are able to discover and separate 
from one another these various substances, and determine 
just what proportion of each exists, and also what per- 
centage of each is essential for vegetable and animal life! 
Very slight changes would render life impossible. For 
example, we learn that forty per cent of the earth’s crust 
is composed of oxygen, so also nine-tenths of the weight 
of water, and twenty-three per cent of the weight of the 
atmosphere. Just’the proper combination of hydrogen 
and oxygen is necessary or there would be no water, and 
consequently no life. So we might continue to consider 
the combinations of various elements which make vege- 
table and animal life possible. 

How did all this happen to be? Could it have been 
accidental? Could there have been, by any conceivable 
chance, just the proportion of these four elements which 
make the world habitable if there had not been some 
directive influence operative? 

Organisms of every kind have common characteristics 
and develop along the lines of well-known laws. The 
student of biology meets at every turn the fact of unity 
in a world of endless variety. 

Embryology has claimed large attention in recent years. 
Following the leads from the known to the unknown, 
one substantial and universally applied truth appears: 
namely, that though, when traced back just as far as 
developed science can reach, the life germ in various ani- 
mals appears identically the same, yet in development it is 
clearly shown that there was a fixed distinction, so that 


Gop CREATED 47 


again every animal reproduces itself. That is, no animal 
of one species ever produces an animal of another species. 
In all the extensive study of embryology there has never 
been found a single exception to this rule which is recog- 
nized as a law. More than this, the most minute char- 
acteristics of parent are to be found in the offspring. 

A study of the human body reveals the fact that physi- 
ologically all the wonders of life below man are to be 
found in man himself. Everything, indeed, below the 
human order is to be found in man. He carries with 
him all the marvels of chemistry, paleontology, and bi- 
clogy. We are confronted with new facts at every step 
of our advance in the study. of life from amceba to 
man. Inman we have the climax of organization, adjust- 
ment and adaptation. 

Physiologically, the human body presents the law of 
cause and effect in superlative degree. The mechanism 
of the human body is so delicate and so perfect as to 
excite wonder and a kind of holy awe. Every part of 
the structure acts under laws which determine its health- 
ful continuance. Any one of the vital organs of the body 
presents measureless complications, while at the same 
time it is so related to the entire body as to make for a 
splendid unity. The heart, the hand, the eye,—how per- 
fectly adapted to accomplish the purpose of each and the 
good of the entire man! We find in man a consciousness 
that he is, apart from all other objects or beings. We 
find him thinking, planning, purposing, employing means 
to ends, following out designs. 

When we enter the realm of human thought and study 
mental science and philosophy, we are even more over- 
whelmed with what we discover: the ability of the human 


48 THe Seconp FINALITY OF Falta 


mind to discover and utilize the laws of the universe; 
the power of sustained thinking; indeed, all lines of 
mental activity appear to make the strongest demand for 
belief in the Absolute Mind. In all our study of con- 
ditions in nature one thing stands out impressivelly, 
namely, that like produces like, that everything observed, 
which has beginning and is looking to the realization of a 
certain end, must have had a cause. The mind refuses to 
think otherwise. What could that cause have been? What 
could have brought about this marvel of order, law, adap- 
tation, all the way from the beginning to the end of the 
series? We are so constituted that we are not contented 
to know these facts of nature without insistent inquiry as 
to their origin and destiny. It would be just as rational 
to believe that through some sort of natural agitation of 
substances a modern automobile was produced as to be- 
lieve that the far more complicated mechanism of the 
human body and the human mind is the result of the 
accidental combination of chemical elements. All these 
realities of nature are undeniably here. They have to be 
accounted for. They have to be accounted for in such a 
manner as will not do violence to the laws of thought. 
Montesquieu says, “What can be more absurd than to 
imagine that a blind, fatalistic force has produced intelli- 
gent beings?” 

A consideration of the human conscience, of the moral 
sense, the idea of obligation and duty, again have to be ac- 
counted for. None of these things can merely be ac- 
cepted as existing, with no consideration as to the whence, 
why, and wherefore of them all. To attribute all the 
social, moral, and spiritual activities to nature answers 
nothing whatsoever. ‘To say that all progress has been 


Gop CREATED 49 


due to climate, heredity, or any kind of merely physical 
influence only presses the question one point farther back. 
Order inevitably suggests mind behind the order. The 
prevalence of order with its adaptations and co-ordi- 
nations, impels us to look to some intelligent force for an 
explanation. Mere energy furnishes no reason whatso- 
ever forlaw and order. Yet law and order are recognized 
by all intelligent people. When we have recognized the 
fact of order we have gone a long way toward claiming 
that behind the order is a governing Mind. All the works 
of man that we behold immediately suggest a Worker 
who is greater than that which he has produced. There 
appears to be no limit to human ingenuity. Inventions 
multiply. In the realm of mechanics, when any necessity 
arises, there is some man gifted to meet the issue. There 
is no thought that the product of human genius could 
have been produced accidentally or by chance. Is it any 
more probable that what we call nature in its adaptations 
and correlations came about through blind forces, un- 
guided, uncontrolled? 

No large number of people ever have been or ever will 
be satisfied with any philosophy of the universe that does 
not ultimately lead to a great uncaused First Cause. There 
is no getting away from the fact that all things that we 
observe in the natural world seem clearly to be governed 
by an intention and design to serve some final purpose. 
If this is true in the individual features of nature, it is 
still more true of the world taken in its entirety. Matter 
could never be an adequate First Cause. Matter must 
itself be explained. Its very existence must have a reason 
and a cause. The objection that man must be forever 
unable to determine and declare the fact that an Infinite 

4 


50 Tue SEcoND FINALITY oF FalrtH 


Intelligence was operative in producing the universe be- 
cause a finite mind has no power to apprehend the In- 
finite is by no means a valid objection, since man can 
know enough of the Infinite to believe in his ability to 
produce the world as we see it. What can account for 
the products of wisdom everywhere about us save meas- 
ureless Wisdom? 

But we have a further consideration. It is generally 
recognized that, vast as it is, our universe is only a faint 
suggestion of immensities and universes vastly beyond 
the power of our imagination fully to conceive. It does 
not satisfy our inquiry to be told that matter itself con- 
tains forces sufficient to produce all we see, since it leaves 
still unexplained the origin of matter thus endowed. 


§2. Evolution as an Explanation of the Universe 


Organic Evolution is an attempt to explain all there is 
without accepting the fact of God. ‘This is not to say 
that all people who call themselves ‘E,volutionists” are 
either atheistic or agnostic. Evolution is a very elastic 
term, and yet it has come to signify an orderly develop- 
ment of the world we know without supernatural inter- 
vention at any point. This is certainly true of what is 
called Organic Evolution. In the midst of baffling inter- 
rogations Evolution offers itself as a solution of perplex- 
ing problems, and an answer to these very questions re- 
specting origin, development, and destiny. To be sure, 
Evolution does not deal with what might be termed ulti- 
mate origin. It has nothing to say regarding the origi- 
nation of matter, except to assume the eternity of matter. 
F.ven to assume the eternity of matter by no means an- 
swers the question of profoundest significance: How was 


Gop CREATED 51 


matter endowed with potential forces ennabling it to pro- 
duce what we see in the world? Whence came the 
ability of matter to work effectually to ends so sublime? 
Taking Evolution as my guide, I follow the stream of 
time to its beginning and stand, as it were, on the rim of 
time called “The beginning.” Looking backward from 
this point, everything is the blackness of darkness, en- 
tirely unrelieved by a single ray of light. The Evolution- 
ist points to a bit of protoplasm from which he declares 
all that we see and know in the natural world took its rise. 
It does not seem to trouble him when I tell him that the 
latest biological utterance leads us to the thought of 
growth by the multiplication of cells. How the single 
cell at the beginning could have possessed the power of 
self-multiplication he is unable to state. Whence all the 
wisdom and power that have expressed themselves in the 
unfolding of our own and innumerable other universes 
he cannot say. He merely asserts that it was so. 
When I ask him what he means by Evolution, he gives 
me a variety of answers. He talks of a universal process 
which began in the inorganic world, and which has been 
operative in an unbroken stream, and has produced the 
material and psychological changes that have occurred 
from the beginning until now. He also says that Evolu- 
tion simply means orderly growth. If I ask for a more 
scientific definition, he tells me it is a change from simple 
to complex, through a long series of differentiations and 
integrations, affecting both structure and form. I am im- 
pressed with the fact that since so many features and 
phases of what is called Evolution are purely theoretical, 
it can hardly be dignified with the term “Science.” 
President Hadley of Yale says Evolution or orderly 


52 THE SECOND FINALITY OF FAITH 


growth is the antithesis of miracles or sudden arrest of 
natural law. It is a wholly unproven hypothesis. Prof. 
Edward D. Cope states Evolution to be the science of 
creation. On the other hand, President Hadley says that 
Evolution is a process but not a science. Le Conte defines 
Evolution as “Continuous progressive change according to 
fixed laws by means of resident forces.”’ Professor Cope 
says: “The doctrine of Evolution may be defined as the 
teaching which holds that creation. has been and is accom- 
plished by the agency of the energies that are intrinsic in 
the evolving matter, and without interference of agencies 
that are external to it. It holds this to be true of the com- 
binations and forms of inorganic nature as well. Failure 
of the attempts to demonstrate spontaneous generation 
will prove, if continued, fatal to this theory.” 

Dr. Henry Fairfield Osborn devotes the half of a large 
volume to the subject of spontaneous generation, seeking 
to account for the same. At the conclusion he says, ‘““The 
more modern scientific opinion is that life arose from a 
recombination of forces pre-existing in the cosmos.” 
Now, as a matter of fact, scientific opinion is not favor- 
able to the idea of spontaneous generation. In their effort 
to exclude the supernatural, Evolutionists are compelled 
to accept the idea that life comes from that which is not 
life. Every known fact in the whole universe heartily 
endorses the statement that life can come only from life. 
The great problem is recognized to be the discovery of 
the origin of life. No such discovery has ever been made. 
It is the conclusion of Prof. Lionel §. Beale that “there 
is a gulf between life and non-life that is unfathomable, 
and I cannot believe it will ever be bridged.” Charles Dar- 
win said, “The inquiry as to how life first originated is 


Gop CREATED 53 


hopeless.” No one studied this subject with a larger 
ability of intellectual acumen than George J. Romanes. 
He concludes, “Science is not in a position to furnish so 
much as any suggestion upon the subject.” In the face of 
all this scientific wisdom, is it not strange that Organic 
Evolution is still accepted as the explanation of the uni- 
verse? 

From 1890 to 1900 I personally engaged in the most 
painstaking inquiry into the entire subject of Evolution. 
I read everything that had been published by Darwin and 
Wallace and Spencer and Huxley, under the direction of 
able instructors in the University of New York City. A 
vast amount of erudition has been devoted to the subject 
by learned men since 1900. At that time I became clearly 
convinced that geology would be rewritten, that what were 
called “assured results,” resulting from a study of fossils, 
would prove to be not “assured results,’ and that the 
theory of Organic Evolution was untenable and furnished 
no satisfactory explanation for the most obvious facts of 
nature. The conclusion then reached has developed into 
a positive conviction and certainty in my own mind. As 
an explanation of the universe, Evolution fails at every 
point. It nowhere furnishes adequate causes for the re- 
sults which are perfectly apparent. 

Immediately after the period of the Renaissance specu- 
lation regarding the origin of the universe and the origin 
of species, and the like, became very active. Linnzus, 
the father of the science of botany and a naturalist of 
very wide repute, presented the first definite statements 
along the line of Evolution. It is doubtless true that 
back in the period of the dominance of Greek thought 
some very positive suggestions along this line had been 


54 THE SECOND FINALITY or FaitH 


offered, but anything like the real evolutionary hypothesis 
is traceable to the early part of the Nineteenth Century. 

Buffon is called the real founder of Evolution. Le- 
marck, the French naturalist who died in 1829, during 
the later period of his life, developed in quite definite 
form a theory of evolution. The idea that acquired char- 
acters are transmitted was developed by him. He was dis- 
tinctly a theorist and a very imaginative one. The 
evolutionary idea took more definite shape with Charles 
Darwin, who died in 1882. His greatest work was ‘“The 
Origin of Species.” Alfred Russell Wallace was a con- 
temporary of Darwin. Both of them engaged in extensive 
explorations as naturalists, and, strange to say, both 
reached at almost the same time the idea of “natural selec- 
tion” as an explanation of development. Darwin’s “The 
Origin of Species” received very hearty recognition and 
endorsement. Herbert Spencer was a great supporter of 
Darwinian Evolution. He died in 1903. He accepted 
without modification Lemarck’s theory of the inheritance 
of acquired characters. He was so positively confident 
that this theory of the inheritance of acquired characters 
was necessary to Evolution that he stated, “Close con- 
templation of the fact impresses me more strongly than 
ever with the two alternatives—either there has been 
inheritance of acquired characters or there has been no 
evolution.” He little realized how quickly his theory 
would be exploded by the investigations and experiments 
of Gregor J. Mendel. Another bright light was Thomas 
Huxley who was a strong advocate of Darwin’s position. 

The entire evolutionary hypothesis was accepted and 
carried into Germany by Ernst H. Heckel. Heckel, 
being an atheist, was delighted to find a theory which 


Gop CREATED 55 


seetned to him to antagonize the Genesis doctrine of cre- 
ation. He was an enthusiastic advocate of Evolution and 
especially of natural selection. At the very time when 
natural selection was at its height as a favorite theory, 
Mendel engaged in careful experiments that upset the 
Darwinian theory of the origin of species, and especially 
the doctrine of the heredity of acquired characters. Dar- 
win had assumed that there is no limit to the variations 
of plants and animals, and that these variations present a 
plausible explanation for the origin of species. Mendel” 
proved that the law of heredity is a fixed and unalterable. 
law and that variations are determined, are beyond a 
peradventure, and are positively limited. He also proved 
that fluctuations produced by changes of environment are 
not transmitted. Mendel thus knocked into a cocked hat 
many of the conclusions that Darwin had reached and 
presented in his “Origin of Species.” Mendel’s “sweet 
peas,’ “sunflowers,” and “guinea pigs’ waged a success- 
ful battle with many contending scientists who gave up 
with reluctance what had seemed to furnish the best ex- 
planation available for the origin of new species in their 
theory of development. 

As a matter of fact, the evolutionary theory does not 
answer the most important and vital questions presented 
to the mind as a result of a careful scrutiny of the works 
of nature. In the first place, the eternity of matter is 
rejected positively and unequivocally by nearly all think- 
ing.men. There is perfect agreement as to the fact that 
through the processes of the ages, in the history of the 
earth, decided and important changes have taken place. 
But Organic Evolution does not explain them. Evolution 
does not account in any way for the origin of matter, 


56 THe SECOND FINALITY oF FAITH 


nor does it account for the mathematical proportions nec- 
essary to life and growth. We cannot believe for a mo- 
ment that these elements could ever by chance have 
reached the definite proportions which now obtain. It is 
simply inconceivable that chemical elements were self- 
originated. 

Next, Evolution fails entirely to account for the begin- 
ning of motion. .Motion implies energy. It is just as 
inconceivable that motion should be self-originating as 
it is that matter should be self-originating. Organic 
Evolution tells us that every atom is a whirling vortex of 
matter, but when we ask how it began to whirl it gives us 
no reply. Between matter and life there is a great un- 
bridged gulf with no rational connection between the two 
sides from the evolutionary point of view. If there is 
anything in all the world positively asserted it is that 
life cannot come and does not come from that which is 
not life. At every point I find Evolution making unwar- 
ranted assumptions. One of them is that life is some- 
how the product of inorganic matter. Evolution is 
equally impotent with respect to the striking division in 
the organic world of plant and animal life. 

Once more, I find no hint as to how it ever happened 
that life, which must originally have been constituted of 
individual cells, developed sex. Eminent scientists regard 
this as one of the most wonderful facts in nature. 

Again, as to the origin of species, what could be more 
unthinkable than that the measureless variety of life as we 
see it came from a common ancestry? Evolution cannot 
account for it and does not, any more than it accounts 
for the origin of many of the organs of the human body. 
I do not find Evolution accounting for the numberless 


Gop CREATED 57 


breaks in the supposed regular development, as repre- 
sented in geological records. We have in our various 
museums, wonderfully worked out, what is supposed to 
be the full line of development in flora and fauna, indeed 
in all lines of life and growth from the beginning. But 
a careful investigation discovers the fact that numberless 
gaps have been filled up by imaginary creation. Not one 
particle of evidence, satisfactory to the average intelli- 
gence, that a single species has changed from one to an- 
other, has been adduced. The greater scientists have con- 
fessed that they have no proof of such a change. 

When we come to the subject of the mind, the mental 
faculties, there is positively no explanation if Evolution 
as to how mental powers were first developed. Herbert 
Spencer, one of the ablest and most astute of evolution- 
ary thinkers, said: “That a unit of feeling has nothing 
in common with a unit of motion becomes more than ever 
manifest when we bring the two into juxtaposition.” 

With respect to instinct, where do you find an expla- 
nation for its origin? Certainly not in Organic Evolution. 
It is recognized as a fact, and much space is given to 
relating the important part it plays in the animal world, 
but as to how it originated not a word can be said with 
any assurance. 

It is also true that we are hopelessly at sea if we take 
Evolution as a guide to explain to us the moral sense in 
man. ‘There is no indication that it exists in the slightest 
degree among brutes or in any being below man. ‘The 
idea of right and wrong, the further idea of self-con- 
sciousness, together with reflective thought,—these do not 
belong to the brute creation in any degree. Evolution 
cannot explain how they came to be facts in man. 


58 Tue Seconp FINAurry or FAItH 


There is one thing that persists in spite of all effort to 
think the contrary, namely, that man, by virtue of his free 
will, determines his own destiny. In an effort to be free 
from responsibility, fatalism has sometimes been accepted 
as a fact, and indeed logically accepted if Evolution is a 
true theory. But in this attempt to escape a day of judg- 
ment men are not successful. The idea of duty holds its 
place in spite of all denials. 

What is there in Evolution to explain spirituality in 
man? All sorts of theories are advanced, but how un- 
satisfactory they are. Prayer and faith in immortality 
are to be found in men even of the lowest order. But 
they are never existent in animals. If not, then how 
could they have been evolved from any of the lower ani- 
mals? It would be impossible. The theory of Evolution 
assumes that the higher order comes about through an 
“inner urge” in the lower order. This is contrary to all 
observation. The higher is ever lifting the lower into 
itself. The natural tendency is not to advance, but to 
retrograde. It is the grip of the higher on the lower that 
prevents this retrogration. The wild flower does not of 
itself nor by the aid of mere nature grow more and more 
beautiful, increasing in size and wonder of color. A 
horticultural display reveals what can be done in the way 
of increasing the size and beauty of flowers like the chrys- 
anthemum. When the intelligence of man is applied, the 
most astonishing results are gained both in plant and in 
animal life. But withdraw this intelligent application of 
human effort and you have no such development. The 
most splendid flowers of the garden, if left uncultivated, 
quickly deteriorate. 

A herd of high-bred horses or cattle, turned out upon 


Gop CREATED 59 


the plains and left to themselves would, in a few gener- 
ations become only degenerate specimens of what they 
were. This is true of every living thing. In human life 
degeneration is far more marked than development. 
Evolution breaks down as an explanation of human 
progress. Some other explanation must be offered or 
we remain in hopeless ignorance, just where we have the 
greatest desire for information and assurance. One of the 
most strikingly interesting books that has recently been 
published is “The New Decalogue of Science” by Albert 
E. Wiggam. His standing as a scientist adds to the amaz- 
ing nature of his deliverances in this book. There are 
many others today who are entitled to the highest regard 
because of their scientific knowledge who have reached 
the conclusion that the direction of natural evolution is 
downward instead of upward. It is undoubtedly true that 
the only thing that prevents the entire organic world 
from complete degeneracy is the perpetual upholding and 
sustaining power of the Creator himself. Doctor Wig- 
gam contends that man in himself is on the down grade 
in matters most vital. His contention is a direct contra- 
diction to the claim of Evolution that through resident 
forces man can and does move toward perfection. This 
is not only the claim of Evolution, it is also the very 
definite declaration of religious Modernism, though it is 
not sustained by one single fact in human history. It is 
an assumptive declaration based on pre-conception with 
a determination to make these pre-conceptions real. Doc- 
tor Wiggam writes, “We are still in the stone age of 
ethics.” 

So John Dewey in substance asks, ‘““Where is our science 
of society, our moral adjustments of men to one another, 


60 Tue SeconpD FINALITY oF FAITH 


comparable to our progress in chemistry or physics? 
There is simply no such progress . . . the ad- 
vanced races of mankind are going backward; the civi- 
lized races of the world are plunging downward; 
civilization as you have so far administered it is self- 
destructive . . . the brain of man is not growing; 
man as a breed of organic beings is not advancing.” He 
then asserts that man is growing less capable of resisting 
diseases, and calls attention to the fact that the very class 
which might have been expected to stand highest showed, 
when the war draft made its revelations, that in America 
one-third of the young men were found physically unfit. 
In Great Britain the British Military Committee found 
only three men out of every nine physically sound. What 
are Evolutionists to think of the well-founded statement 
of Professor East that there is nothing to indicate the 
superiority of contemporary man over the Cro-Magnon 
man of thousands of years ago in inherent capacity? 

All these points are very particularly emphasized by 
Professor George McCready Price in his recent book, 
“The Phantom of Organic Evolution.” Professor Price 
is one of the first men to rewrite geology on the “‘catas- 
trophic’ plan. It would be difficult to conceive of a more 
effectual attack upon the evolutionary hypothesis than he 
makes, backing up every statement with undeniable evi- 
dence. He shows himself the master of the situation 
from every standpoint, and gives evidence of a familiarity 
with the entire bibliography of Evolution. His deduc- 
tions will have to be reckoned with, notwithstanding the 
“highbrow” disregard shown by the advocates of the evo- 
lutionary hypothesis. It is nothing less than remarkable 
that men will insist on the retention of theories that have 


Gop CREATED 61 


been completely overthrown by the most obvious facts and 
the most irrefragable arguments. For example, a great 
many biologists, including the most eminent, accept the 
statement of John Burroughs that Darwin has already 
been shorn of his selection theories as completely as 
Samson was shorn of his locks. Although one support 
and another has been knocked from under Organic Evolu- 
tion as an explanation of the living universe, it is still 
advocated in nearly all of our universities and is very 
generally accepted. Sir William Dawson, a widely in- 
formed and profoundly earnest thinker, finds much more 
to support the theory of degeneracy than of progression. 
He gives his final conclusion in few words: ‘We may 
almost say that all things left to themselves tend to de- 
generate, and only a new breathing of the Almighty Spirit 
can start them again on the path of advancement.’ Pro- 
fessor Price says: “We have thus arrived at a philosophy 
of change among the species of plants and animals; and 
we find that there has indeed been an origin of ‘species’ 
since the beginning of things but contrary to the views of 
Darwin and his followers,—the general results of these 
changes have not been in the nature of advancement. De- 
generation seems to have dogged the steps of every cre- 
ated form; the few exceptions to this rule having been 
produced by the efforts of man.” 

But it is also worthy of remark that the change from 
the large ancient forms to smaller and more degenerate 
modern forms seems to have come about abruptly in point 
of time and to have been world-wide in extent, the change 
coinciding exactly with the world-wide changes, recorded 
in the rock, by which the ancient world was changed into 
the modern one, 


62 Tue SEcOoND FINALITY oF FAltH 


‘““We see the same general tendency toward degeneration 
when we consider man himself. Not, of course, if we let 
the Evolutionists arrange the various skulls and skeletons 
according to their own ideas, beginning with the Pithe- 
canthropus and following along down past the Heidelberg 
Jaw, the Piltdown Skull, the Neanderthal Skull, and the 
Cro-Magnards. As I have shown elsewhere, there is no 
reason whatever for arranging these specimens in this 
order (supposed to be historical) except to make this order 
illustrate the preconceived theory of man’s animal origin. 
The reasons are based on the fossils and are wholly mor- 
phological; it is assumed that the lowest and most ape- 
like must have been first. These specimens, from widely 
scattered localities, are arranged to illustrate the idea. 
Does this arrangement prove anything? Well, nothing 
so clearly as the hypnotizing power of a preconceived 
theory.” All of which is admirably stated and absolutely 
true. 

Is it not perfectly evident that the determination of man 
to abandon the Biblical doctrine of creation and to sub- 
stitute naturalism has as its special object the elimination 
of an authoritative, mandatory Supernatural? Evolution 
is a fad, and anti-supernaturalism is a mania. Gilbert 
Keith Chesterton’s “The Everlasting Man,” treats this 
whole subject of Evolution without gloves. His sarcasm 
is sublime. He says, “There is something slow, and 
soothing, and gradual about the word Evolution and even 
about the idea. As a matter of fact, it is not, touching 
these primary things, a very practical word or a very 
profitable idea. Nobody can imagine how nothing could 
turn into something. Nobody can get an inch nearer it, 
how something could turn into something else. Evolution 


Gop CREATED _ 63 


is mistaken for explanation. It has the fatal quality of 
leaving on many minds the impression that they do under- 
stand it, and everything else; just as many of them live 
under a sort of illusion that they have read ‘The Origin 
of Species’ . . . If weattempt to regard man, as it 
were, as a quadruped standing on his hind legs we shall 
find what follows far more fantastic and subversive than 
if he were standing on his head. The more we look at man 
as an animal the less he will look like one. The cave man 
is commonly represented as either a myth or a muddle.” 
Mr. Chesterton then goes on at great length to deal with 
the conclusions reached by scientists as a result of certain 
crude drawings found in caves, and also to deal even more 
drastically with the ‘‘assured results’? which have grown 
out of the reconstructions of animals and men from a 
fossil bone. He says, “Sometimes a professor with his 
bone becomes as dangerous as a dog with his bone, and 
the dog at least does not deduce a theory from it proving 
that mankind is going to the dogs or that it came from 
them.” 

Mr. Chesterton states that the history of prehistoric 
man is a very obvious contradiction of terms; that it is 
the sort of unreason in which only rationalists are allowed 
to indulge. The theorists and speculators and dreamers 
tell us, for example, that the cave men wore no clothes, 
and they are always represented as carrying a big club 
which they used on every occasion, from winning a wife 
to annihilating an enemy. Chesterton says, “All this 
guess work has nothing to do with anybody—we are not 
willing to have passed off on us a lot of irrational rub- 
bish.”’ 

We hear much about the perils attending both educa- 


64. Tue Seconp Finanuiry oF Fairs 


tion and religion from Fundamentalism. As a matter of 
fact, the greatest menace to higher learning is Monkey 
Mentalism. Because of the popularity of Evolution, 
which, if true, would rid humanity of responsibility, obli- 
gation, and the day of judgment, we are subjected to a 
vast deal of pre-historic piffle. Those who are trying to 
explain the origin of life and especially the origin of 
religion will go to any length rather than recognize the 
perfectly rational ground presented to us in revelation 
for everything in nature with which we are acquainted. 
As a matter of fact, they do not explain the origin of 
religion, but they do undertake to explain it away. Mr. 
Chesterton says, “The student of mythology will murmur 
the word ‘totem’ in his sleep.” 

There is a growing evidence that humanity thousands 
of years ago was intellectually and in many other partic- 
ulars as capable and as thoroughly developed as modern 
man. How pertinent and true are the words of David 
Starr Jordan: “Science, nevertheless, has had its share 
of workers who go beyond reasonably ascertained truth to 
speculate on finalities. Science knows as yet nothing of 
the origin of life; it has not yet discovered mines in the 
exploding atom; the forming crystal. It is still unable 
to explain the origin of the earth, nor is it sure of earth’s 
ultimate fate, when finally it is stranded on the shore of 
the universe.” About two years ago Prof. Vernon L. Kel- 
logg, who calls himself an Evolutionist, nevertheless wrote 
in the Atlantic Monthly, “We are distinctly Jess confident 
concerning the casual explanation or explanations of Evo- 
lution than we were a half century ago.” The “Resident 
Powers” theory, just now so much in vogue, demands the 
acceptance of spontaneous generation to explain life, and 


Gop CREATED 65 


yet with all the vast erudition of man not one scintilla of 
evidence supports the contention. J. Arthur Thompson, 
whose eminence in the scientific world is recognized, has 
written an admirable book, “Introduction to Science.” 
That book contains this interesting sentence, “The irrev- 
erent and the un-wondering are to be found among those 
who know least, not among those who know most.” 

Now one of the most surprising facts that one meets 
with in discussion of Evolution as opposed to the Biblical 
doctrine of creation is this: The utter ignorance of the 
vast majority of the people who claim to be Evolutionists. 
A personal inquiry among fifty clergymen and twenty 
professors in colleges within the last two years revealed 
the fact that only two out of the fifty clergymen had read 
Darwin’s “The Origin of Species” or Herbert Spencer’s 
“Synthetic Philosophy” or any of the works of Wallace 
or Huxley. Among the professors and teachers there was 
a larger percentage, yet less than twenty-five percent had 
read these works in full. Of course, few laymen are 
familiar with the theory of Evolution. Notwithstanding 
this lack of information, with the utmost assurance, the 
claim is made, “I am an Evolutionist.” 

Nothing is surer than that Organic Evolution is directly 
opposed to the Biblical account of the origin of the world 
and the development of the human race. From a Biblical 
standpoint, it is unhistorical and untrue. 


§3. The Biblical Doctrine of Origins 


When we turn to revelation we are immediately im- 
pressed with the clarity, the simplicity, and the rationality 
of its statements respecting the origin of the universe, 
together with the reason for its continuance. There will 

5 


66 THE SECOND FINALITY OF FAITH 


probably be no controversy regarding the fact that the 
Bible teaches unequivocally that the world we live in was 
created by God Almighty. So clear is the language in 
which the doctrine is stated that it is incapable of dis- 
tortion to such an extent that a shadow of recognition 
can be given to the theory of Organic Evolution. The 
advocates of creationism are not embarrassed by the 
vociferous declarations of Evolutionists that their position 
is unscientific. ‘The believers in the truth of revelation 
are many of them scientists of highest repute, and find 
nothing incompatible with true science in the Biblical 
doctrine as set forth in Genesis and sustained throughout 
the entire Word of God. Evangelicals recognize the 
unity of truth, and are the last people in the world to 
oppose science. What they do not accept or endorse is 
the attempt of certain groups who have become self- 
appointed censors of all learning to foist on the world 
in the name of reality undemonstrated and undemon- 
strable theories utterly at variance with the best estab- 
lished facts of true science. 

Turning to the first chapter of Genesis we read, “In 
the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And 
the earth was without form, and void; and darkness 
was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God 
moved upon the face of the waters.” Throughout the 
entire process of creation each distinct unfolding or man- 
ifestation is preceded by the words, ‘And God said.” 
Ten different times in the first chapter of Genesis these 
words appear as expressing a declarative purpose ac- 
companied by a divine energy. The entire chapter is an 
emphatic assertion that everything in the natural universe 
that has come into existence has been a result of the 


Gop CREATED 67 


purposeful self-expression of God. All that he did is 
said to have been done with an end in view. Nature ac- 
cording to the Bible is God’s thought objectified. 

How different is our position from that of the material- 
ist when we take our place at the beginning, on the very 
rim of time and look backward. From the naturalist’s 
standpoint nothing appears but the blackness of darkness 
and not even an echo answers the voice that calls for 
something that will represent the eternity of the past. 
But standing on the rim of time and looking backward 
from the viewpoint of revelation all is changed. There 
is still the inscrutable and the unfathomable but it is all 
glorious and all explanatory of the things with which we 
have to do. Here we utter our cry for some satisfactory 
evidence of existence and the answer comes back to us as 
recorded in the first chapter of John’s Gospel, “In the 
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, 
and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning 
with God. All things were made by him; and without 
him was not anything made that was made. In him was 
life’ (John 1:1-4). “The world was made by him” 
(John 1:10). The self-existent, uncreated, absolute, 
the personal God was. 

Turning now to the records of time as presented in 
Biblical language we shall be prepared for all that is de- 
clared. Having accepted the Biblical statement so specific 
and direct that before the thought of God became the 
form of things we know he was. God is thus the ground 
and cause of nature, from electron to man. 

The Bible teems with declarations along the lines of 
the creative power and the sustaining activity of God. 
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of 


63 Tue SEcoNnD FINALITY oF FAitH 


God created he him; male and female created he them” 
(Gen. 1:27). “God created man, in the likeness of God 
made he him; male and female created he them” (Gen. 
5:1,2). “Since the day that God created man upon the 
earth’ (Deut. 4:32). “He that created the heavens” 
(Isa. 42:5). Again, “Thus saith the Lord that created 
thee” (Isa. 43:1). “I have created him for my glory” 
(Isa. 43:7). “TI have made the earth and created man’ 
(Isa. 45:12). “In God, who created all things” (Eph. 
3:9). ,|“By him were all things created, that are in 
heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether 
they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: 
all things were created by him, and for him” (Col. 1: 
16). ‘For thou hast created all things’ (Rev. 4:11). 
“He commanded, and they were created” (Psa. 148:5). 

Evidently there is no alternative but to reject the Bible 
as trustworthy and reliable, if you deny the act of cre- 
ation by God himself as explaining the origin of the 
universe. There is no middle ground. You cannot ac- 
cept the Bible and at the same time accept Organic Evo- 
lution. They are mutually contradictory. ‘God that 
made the world and all things therein, . . . made 
of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face 
of the earth, and hath determined the times before ap- 
pointed, and the bounds of their habitation” (Acts 17: 24- 
26). “What is man, that thou art mindful of him? 

For thou hast made him a little lower than Elohim, 
and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou mad- 
est him to have dominion over the works of thy hands” 
(Psa. 8:4-6). 

How contrary all this is to the evolutionary idea that 
man was developed from the lower animals. Instead of 
that, instead of being made a little higher than animals, 


Gop CREATED 69 


he was created a “little lower than Elohim.” Our King 
James Version reads, “Thou hast made him a little lower 
than the angels.” The Revised Version reads ‘“‘but little 
lower than God.” Not the push from below upward, 
therefore, but the pull from above is the Biblical idea. 
“Jehovah God . . ._ breathed into his nostrils the 
breath of life; and man became a living soul” (Gen. 2: 
7). This thought is very definitely presented in Job 33: 4, 
“The spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the 
Almighty hath given me life.” 

The Bible is very complete in its presentation of all 
facts relative to the origin, the physical constitution, the 
mental constitution, and the spiritual constitution of 
man. It was the inbreathing of God which gave to man 
the divine image, as it is called in the Word. Intellec- 
tually, morally, and spiritually, God created man with a 
capacity for himself. He gave to man the terrible yet 
splendid power of moral self-determination. It is be- 
cause and only because of the divine inbreathing that 
man has rational consciousness, power of sustained think- 
ing, spiritual perception, and that definite ability which 
enables him to avail himself of all the treasures of wis- 
dom and power in the infinite God so far as is essential 
to the perfecting of character and preparation for eternal 
fellowship with God. 

In the act of creating man, God contributed to him a 
spirit self which is the immortal part of man. It is this 
that survives the shock of death. The physical, mental, 
and spiritual are all united so as to form a single per- 
sonality. The interrelation of body, mind, and soul is 
the supreme manifestation of God’s objectified thought. 
It is creation at its climax. As a culmination and climax 
of creation man contains within himself every feature 


70 THE SECOND FINALITY oF FAITH 


and phase of nature below man. We are so constituted 
that every essential element of personality is retained 
when the soul is no longer physically embodied. We 
still have our powers of intellection, including memory 
and personal self-consciousness. We still have power 
of self-determination and we also have our affectional 
nature. 

More recent studies in psychology and psycho-therapy 
emphasize the marvels of adaptation, mental energy, and 
the interrelation of the parts of personality. All these 
are distinctly declared to have been in the intent of God 
and due to his personal activity. When God breathed 
into man the breath of life he possessed immediately these 
various qualities. Whereas Evolution furnishes no rea- 
sonable ground for the universal belief in immortality, 
the Biblical representations furnish the fullest reason for 
this. Man is created for God and the Bible represents 
the present earthly life as the smallest fragment of that 
period of continued existence that is called “endless” or 
“eternity.” ‘There is no emotion, no aspiration, no mental 
or spiritual activity that does not find a perfectly rational 
explanation when we accept the Bible doctrine of life. 

We are told that the origin of man is not of great im- 
portance; that it is enough to recognize the fact of man 
as a present reality. Why consider the question of how 
man has arrived? Rather let us devote our entire atten- 
tion to what he is today, and what he may become. ‘There 
are few exhibitions of shallow thinking more injurious. 
As a matter of fact, you can never deal satisfactorily with 
destiny apart from origin. They are inseparably related. 
There is no logical argument or ground for belief in a 
noble destiny that has an ignoble origin. Personal im- 
mortality, apart from the doctrine of divine creation, 


Gop CREATED 71 


has no secure place in human belief. The very same 
revelation that gives assurance of a possible felicitous 
destiny speaks with unquestioning assurance of the super- 
natural origin of man. 

In his own way and for his own reasons the infinite 
God produced the world of things, thought, and feeling, 
all the way from the minutest animalculum to the most 
highly endowed representative of the human race. There 
is no alternative between the acceptance of revelation, 
and unqualified agnosticism tending toward atheism, 
simply because science is absolutely incapable of dealing 
either with origin or destiny. No large number of think- 
ing people have ever been content with any other explana- 
tion of the world than that the world had a Creator and 
cause, namely, God. 

The false pride that demands absolute independence, 
refuses to bow to authority, and is in an unremitting 
rebellion against accountability and judgment has led to 
periodic recurrences of atheistic assertion and assumption 
with its long train of denials and denunciations of re- 
vealed religion. Just as the belief in God is ineradicable, 
so also is the belief in creation ineffaceable. The per- 
fectly evident intention that marks God’s entire universe, 
the human conscience, the yearning for immortality, all 
these nullify the atheistic arguments. How adequately 
and satisfactorily all things in nature receive explanation 
and fall into their proper places when the Biblical account 
of creation is accepted! All that pertains to man in his 
mental activity, the implications of his moral sense, his 
spiritual aspirations, all are accounted for perfectly when 
you postulate the God of the Bible as the Author of all 
being. 

We are not to be content with any deistic conception 


(ee THE SECOND FINALITY OF FAITH 


that accepts the fact of God but conceives of him as 
having been dynamically and constructively present in 
creative fiat and force at the beginning, only to retire 
from the great world machine leaving the cosmic order 
to take care of itself ina mechanistic manner. This con- 
ception does not satisfy the human judgment when the 
facts are known, and especially when the declarations of 
God’s Word are taken into account. The Biblical con- 
ception of God represents him as unceasingly present, 
with unremitting manifestations of wisdom and power. 
“In him we live, and move, and have our being” (Acts 
17:28). The whole cosmic order represents the un- 
ceasing outgoings of divine energy motivated by love. 
He is over all, in all, and with all. Yet we must care- 
fully guard against a pantheistic immanency. There is 
a very real sense in which God is dwelling within his 
world, but it is equally important to recognize that he is 
also above and outside of his world. 

It is then a divine origin of man that opens the way 
for a divine destiny for man. Nothing could more 
glorify and dignify human life than the acceptance of 
the fact that man came directly from God, a perfect ex- 
pression of infinite goodness, love, and power. Man with 
his godlike faculties, his almost measureless capacity for 
truth and righteousness, is an entirely different being 
from man conceived of as the product of chemical forces, 
leaving no logical place for free will, without any basis 
for ethics, with no place for accountability and moral 
excellence, and with no possible guarantee of eternal life. 

It would seem as though the effort of the human in- 
telligence should be directed to validating all the claims 
of the Bible instead of seeking to refute them, nullify 
them, and destroy their influence. The Biblical account 


Gop CREATED 73 


is all on the side of human aggrandizement, the ennoble- 
ment of life, and the blessing of humanity. We have 
everything to gain from proving the reliability and trust- 
worthiness of the Bible as it relates to man. There is 
not a demonstrated fact in science which successfully 
refutes one single creative claim of the Word of God. 

There are many speculative inferences, predetermined 
doctrines, unsupported assertions that antagonize the 
truth of the Bible. The very things the soul of man 
most covets are denied as even a reasonable hope the 
moment you dismiss God as the creative cause of the 
universe and the author of man. It is extremely gratify- 
ing to discover eminent scientists who heartily and un- 
reservedly declare themselves as believers in creation as 
represented and revealed in God’s Word. There is no 
objection to speculative excursions and the individual 
acceptance of the vagaries and dreams of theorists, but 
there is a legitimate and valid objection to teaching chil- 
dren and youth that God did not create the world, that 
man is the product of chemical forces merely, and that 
religion itself has been developed through fear, and that 
God has nothing to do with his world today. There is 
an equally strong objection to the use of traditional 
phrases that lead people to believe that one is a reverential 
worshiper of God and a believer in his Book when in 
reality God as the great first cause, the everlasting Father, 
the sustainer of life, has been dismissed. 

Christian people to whom the Bible is in reality the 
Word of God have a perfect right to object to having 
their children taught that certain unbiblical doctrines of 
the origin of life that are unsupported by facts are true. 
There is nothing consistent in teaching the Fatherhood 
of God as the very essence of Christianity and in the 


74 THe SECOND FINALITY oF FAITH 


same breath denying that God is the Author of our being. 
In the Bible the Fatherhood of God is a term relating to 
those who have accepted the fact that he is creator and 
have further submitted themselves to him to become his 
children. 

The Bible is absolutely consistent with itself. Having 
declared the creatorship of God, it proceeds then to 
answer all of the deepest questions awakened in the hu- 
man heart by its own consciousness of limitations, sin- 
fulness, and aspiration. How unspeakably gratifying it 
is to know that we may trace our origin to One infinitely 
wise, measurelessly powerful, inexpressibly holy, and 
whose love transcends all human thought! It gives us 
an exalted consciousness of our possible selves, however 
deplorable may be our defects, and however much the 
image of God may have been marred through sin. 

There is still the boundless hope of restoration and 
recovery until those qualities which glorify God shine 
forth in our lives. Furthermore, we may entertain a 
rational expectation of a destiny surrounded by and per- 
meated with divinity itself, because having come from 
God we may live in eternal companionship with him. 
Who can doubt that since God created man in his own 
image it was with the idea of correspondence, coopera- 
tion, and a fellowship leading to an abiding felicity? All 
these things, therefore, are presented to us as factual 
when we build on the splendid affirmation ‘‘God created.” 
This second finality of faith is indeed what it purports 
to be, a finality. It is the doctrine that can never be 
successfully assailed. It is a validity as unshakable as 
God’s throne, Amid all the turbulency of human thought 
it remains as an unalterable fact, “In the beginning God 
created the heaven and the earth.” 


LE 


THE THIRD FINALITY OF FAITH 
GOD SPAKE 


$1. The Necessity of Revelation 


AVING created man with a capacity for him- 
H self, it would be antecedently probable that God 
would definitely communicate to such a being 
his will and purpose. This could not possibly be accom- 
plished in finality and fullness by constitutional endow- 
ment. By nature man-has a consciousness of God, and 
a conscience within himself which impels him to com- 
mend conduct he believes would be pleasing to God and 
to condemn conduct which he feels would be contrary to 
the will of his Creator. The distinction between moral 
good and moral evil is made by man without any addi- 
tional revelation beyond his own moral endowments. In 
every well-ordered government there are courts of jus- 
tice, and these courts of justice assume that distinctions 
between evil and good are made by all men. They 
further assume a certain moral ability whereby man can 
do the right and refuse to do the wrong. No man is 
entirely oblivious to responsibility. A sense of “ought- 
ness” evidently obtains in the most untutored and un- 
civilized mind, as is evidenced by the efforts put forth 
to avoid penalty for wrongdoing and gain favor and ad- 
vantage by right doing. 
Nature has contributed much in ethical directions. 
75 


76 THe Turrp FINALITY OF Fair 


Even with a closed Bible there is a great deal that may 
properly be called “natural religion” and that deals with 
moral distinctions, with personal duty, and accountability. 
This is clearly set forth by eminent men who never had 
the advantage of a specific supernatural revelation. 
Maximus Tyrius, who was a Platonic philosopher, says, 
“Wickedness committed voluntarily is the object of our 
hatred.” Epictetus was-a Stoic philosopher who recog- 
nized definitely that man carries with him a sense of 
duty. He said, “Whoever came into the world without 
an innate idea of good and evil, becoming and unbecom- 
ing, happiness and misery, proper and improper, what 
ought to be done and what ought not to be done?” 
Aristotle declares, ““He who is good and lives after the 
principle of honor will obey reason, but the bad man 
aims at pleasure and is corrected by pain like a beast.” 
A fine summary of social obligations is presented by 
Plutarch, “We ought to worship the gods, to honor our 
parents, to reverence our elders, to obey the laws, to give 
place to our superiors, to love our friends.” Every stu- 
dent of classical literature must have been impressed with 
the emphasis placed upon moral obligation by Suetonius, 
Seneca, Cicero, and other pagan writers. There are many 
exalted moral utterances from the lips of representatives 
of the Chinese nation. Confucius says, ““He whose heart 
is just and who entertains toward others the same feel- 
ing that he has toward himself forsakes not the moral 
law of duty prescribed for men by their rational nature; 
he does not do to others that which he desires should not 
be done to himself.” In the religions of Egyptians, 
Persians, Hindus, and other pagan peoples this same fact 
is perfectly apparent. By his very constitution it is clearly 


Gop SPAKE 77 


taught that man distinguishes between good and evil in 
their main aspects. 

But the evident fact is that, notwithstanding the clear 
distinction between good and evil and the knowledge that 
men ought to choose that which is good, man condemns 
himself by choosing what he knows to be wrong. Thus 
while in the main right and wrong are distinguished, 
there appears to be no understanding of how the evil can 
be overcome and the good gain the ascendancy in the 
soul of man. Moreover, if obedience to the divine will 
which represents absolute goodness is to be practiced, 
programs and principles of conduct must be more spe- 
cifically expressed, so that man will be able successfully 
to follow the path of virtue and the highway that leads 
increasingly to the perfected life. 

The first seven chapters of Romans presents a picture 
of the natural man following his natural impulses. It is 
clearly shown that whatever of natural religion man has, 
it does not prevent the downward incline which leads 
through all stages of degeneracy to final and permanent 
alienation from God and goodness. ‘The heart is de- 
ceitful above all things, and desperately wicked,” said 
the prophet Jeremiah (17:9). “God saw that the wick- 
edness of man was great in the earth, and that every 
imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil 
continually.” This was not because God had declined 
to reveal his holy will, but because man had ignored and 
despised it and followed his own inclinations. The sense 
of ill desert attending a deliberate violation of conscience 
has undoubtedly exercised a great influence upon the hu- 
man race, entirely apart from revealed religion. 

There are some things, however, with which nature 


78 THe Tuirp FInauity or Parra 


has not and never can deal successfully. However strong 
may be natural inner compulsion toward the good, it 
has never been able to counteract the sensual appeal. Paul, 
giving a description of the world outside the covenant, 
says, “Even as they did not like to retain God in their 
knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to 
do those things which are not convenient; being filled 
with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covet- 
ousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, de- 
ceit, malignity; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, 
despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, dis- 
obedient to parents, without understanding, covenant- 
breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerci- 
ful: who knowing the judgment of God, that they which 
commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the 
same, but have pleasure in them that do them” (Rom. 
1: 28-32). This is no caricature. It is a true character- 
ization of the drift of life until arrested by a distinct and 
specific appeal of God through revelation. Evidently 
under such conditions God Almighty had to do some- 
thing more than sit in the distant circle of the heavens 
and let the world go on. Natural religion is utterly 
unable to deal adequately with a sense of guilt or to 
eliminate the love of sinning. 

One of the greatest problems in the world is the prob- 
lem of human suffering. Burdened with inexpressible 
sorrows, man looks in every direction for some consola- 
tion. Nature never gives it. In its highest and most 
perfect expression philosophy has proven itself just as 
impotent as natural religion in dealing with sin, sickness, 
sorrow, and death. The gaping wounds of the human 
heart have no balm and no healing. There is no real 


Gop SPAKE 79 


relief offered to the overburdened and the overwhelmed, 
until such relief is definitely offered through divine com- 
munication. Man has often disciplined himself to such 
a degree that with grim determination and stoical indif- 
ference he has met the inevitable. Such an attitude of 
mind is farthest removed from the peace and comfort 
the soul craves. Dr. H. Grattan Guinness in his pro- 
foundly interesting book, “Creation Centers in Christ,” 
has this to say with respect to philosophy in relation to 
the needs of the human soul: “Philosophy 

what does it teach us but that man knows nothing of 
things as they really are? This is its great discovery. It 
lights its taper and lifting it up reveals . . . anim- 
measurable sphere of darkness! It sounds with its saga- 
cious plumb line the depth of human ignorance. It places 
us with painful effort on a proud eminence in the midst 
of things from which it points us to . . .  fivers 
flowing from unknown sources to unknown seas. In vain 
do we ask from it the what, the whence, the whither! Its 
oracles are dumb and when, in despair of truth, consola- 
tion, holiness, life, we turn away from the baffled intelli- 
gence of man to the majestic presence of nature, when we 
stretch forth our hand amid the circling solitude of the 
measureless universe and cry, ‘Who shall deliver us?’ Na- 
ture’s only answer, if answer it be, is the silence of the 
eternal stars above us, and beneath us the voiceless silence 
» of the grave.” In this paragraph how graphically the need 
of revelation is presented. With a closed Bible the world 
is without consolation in its sorrow, without power in its 
weakness, without hope in its despair, without restoration 
in its degeneracy, with neither renewal nor re-creation, 
and drifts inevitably toward doom. 


80 THe Turrp FInavuiry or Farr 


Let it be understood, however, that God did not leave 
man without witness from the very beginning. By crea- 
tion the most inspiring relations were established between 
God and man. It was the breaking of those relations 
that began the tendency toward heartlessness, helpless- 
ness, and hopelessness. It is inconceivable that God 
created man with his indescribably sublime, yet awful, 
power of free will with any other intention than the 
provision of a companionship, a sacred fellowship between 
himself and man. This is made perfectly distinct at the 
very moment of man’s creation. “So God created man 
in his own image, in the image of God created he him; 
male and female created he them. And God blessed them, 
and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and 
replenish the earth’ (Gen, 1:27, 28). The important 
words in this connection are “God said.” God was in 
communication with man the first moment of his distinct 
and special life as man. He proceeded to outline a plan 
and declare a purpose which, if realized by man whom 
he had created, would insure for him unremitting felicity 
and progress. Right here is the crux of the whole mat- 
ter. Did God speak to man? Did he in a supernatural 
revelation make known his will? Did he indicate by an 
unmistakable declaration of his will just how man could 
giorify his Creator, and at the same time experience the 
highest attainment? 


§2. The Record of God’s Self-Revealing to Man 


There is one fact which compels recognition without 
controversy. ‘That fact is the Bible. It is one of the 
most extraordinary facts of human history and of pres- 
ent-day civilization. “Of making of many books there 


Gop SPAKE 81 


is no end.” Hundreds of thousands of volumes have 
been written by men and vast sums of money have been 
expended in the preservation of these results of human 
thinking. The mere catalogues of the books which line 
the shelves of immense library buildings constitute an 
extensive library in themselves. Dr. David Otis Mears, 
preacher, scholar, and author, in his first chapter of “The 
Deathless Book,” calls especial attention to the transiency 
of even the best books of human origin in contrast with 
the perennial freshness, the increasing distribution, and 
the ever-growing power of “The Deathless Book.” A 
few of his striking paragraphs are as follows: “Not 
more than one book in eight reaches the second edition.” 
“Out of every thousand volumes published, six hundred 
and fifty do not see the end of their first year . . . and 
only fifty survive seven years’ publicity.” ‘There are 
more than a million volumes in the Imperial Library in 
Paris gathered in since the Fourteenth Century, yet of 
this immense catalogue, seven hundred thousand are out 
of print.” “Scholars have never ceased to mourn the 
loss of seventy percent of Livy’s histories; the eighty 
percent of Tacitus and Euripides; and of the larger pro- 
portion of Sophicles; while against such a loss stands 
the preservation of the books of the New Testament as 
early recorded in the canon.” “A fascination gathers 
about the libraries of Egypt; the inscription “Dispensary 
of the Soul’ over the library of Rameses the First; the 
sacred books of Thoth, forty-two in number, increased 
by works of exposition and comment until more than 
thirty thousand were found at the time of the Greek 
invasion; but even their language is held under debate 
while the Hebrew records survive unhurt.” 
6 


82 THe Turrp Finauiry or Fara 


Why is it, then, that this one Book among the mil- 
lions of volumes that have been published since men 
began to write books stands out in an isolated grandeur, 
unique from every standpoint? There must be a suf- 
ficient reason. The very first one of the books of the 
Bible stands unrivaled in its claim to antiquity as com- 
pared with the uninspired books of men. It is in itself 
a short volume covering a period of two thousand years 
of human history. The Bible is indeed a history of true 
religion. Old as it is, its precepts and principles are 
never out of date. Professor Phelps says, “The lyric 
poetry of the Hebrews was in its golden age nearly a 
thousand years before the birth of Horace. Deborah 
sang a model of a triumphal song five hundred years be- 
fore Sappho was born. The author of Ecclesiastes dis- 
cussed the problems of evil five hundred years before 
Plato’s ‘Dialogues.’ The Proverbs of Solomon are eight 
hundred years more ancient than the ‘Treaties’ of 
Seneca. On the very face of it, there is something ‘above 
the natural order’ in a book that stands the time test as 
does the Bible.” 

The Bible as we have it is not a single book but a 
collection of books, each related to every other in such 
a manner as to produce a complete unity. This book is a 
record of God’s communications with men. The Old 
Testament Scriptures contains thirty-nine books, cover- 
ing a period of fifteen hundred years in their writing. 
Every feature and phase of human activity is dealt with 
in these books. The agencies employed by God in this 
wonderful record are human agencies, but, notwithstand- 
ing their greatly diversified individuality and imperfec- 
tions, they were so employed by the Almighty as to pre- 


Gop SPAKE ~~ 83 


sent a trustworthy record of God’s relations with men 
through all these years. The historian Josephus who 
lived in the first century of the Christian era describes 
the books of the Bible known as the Hebrew Scriptures 
as follows: “We have an innumerable multitude of books 
among us, disagreeing from and contradicting one an- 
other, but only twenty-two books (according to Hebrew 
numbering) which contain the record of all the past time 
and are justly believed to be divine. And of them five 
belong to Moses, which contain the laws and the tradi- 
tions of the origin of mankind until his death. This 
interval of time was a little short of three thousand 
years . . . The prophets who were after Moses wrote 
down what was done in their times, in thirteen books. 
The remaining four books contain hymns to God and 
precepts for the conduct of human life . . . It becomes 
natural to all Jews, believing these books from their very 
birth, to esteem them as containing divine doctrine, to 
persist in them, and, if occasion be, willingly to die for 
them.” Turning to the New Testament we have what 
we are accustomed to call the Christian Scriptures. Eight 
men, all of them living at the time of Christ, are the 
authors of these books. These men were Matthew, Mark, 
Luke, John, Peter, Paul, James, and Jude. 

The whole Bible claims to be under the general author- 
ship of the Holy Spirit. This and this alone accounts 
for its marvelous unity. “Holy men of God spake as 
they were moved by the Holy Ghost’ (2 Pet. 1:21). 
Over and over again we read the words, ‘God spake,” 
“God spake unto Noah” (Gen. 9:8), “the God of your 
father spake unto me yesternight” (Gen. 31:29), “God 
spake unto Israel’ (Gen. 46:2), “Jehovah spake unto 


84. THe Tuirp FINALITY oF FaitH 


Moses” (Exod. 7:8), “Jehovah spake suddenly unto 
Moses” (Num. 12:4), “Jehovah spake unto Joshua’ 
(Josh. 1:1). Repeatedly we read, “Thus saith the 
Lord.” There is no possible interpretation of this lan- 
guage except that the Bible definitely declares that a 
divine communication was given to men. ‘There is posi- 
tively no explanation for the unique place of this Book 
in the thought of the world other than the acceptance of 
its particular, supernatural source. It deals with every 
relation of man to man and with every relation of man 
to God. There is nothing of greater importance than 
man’s relation to God. A closed Bible means that man 
is doomed to grope in darkness, or at best in the dim 
twilight just where he most needs light. The innate con- 
sciousness of God is not enough. The intuitive sense of 
responsibility is not sufficient. Nothing but a special 
unveiling of the Infinite can satisfy the needs of the 
human heart. 

Now it is true that at the moment of God’s creation 
God spake to man. Even when man had broken rela- 
tions with God, God’s solicitude, his sympathy, and his 
interest sought immediately to restore fellowship and 
harmony. ‘The very first word uttered by the Infinite, 
when man had betrayed his trust by hearkening to the 
voice of the tempter and questioning the authority of the 
Almighty was a pathetic, almost tragic, “Where art 
thou?” It is perfectly evident that God was unwilling 
to leave man by himself to work out his own destiny. 
He determined to redeem and save him. The whole 
burden of New Testament revelation points distinctly and 
definitely to the ground and cause of a complete restora- 
tion of the image of God in man, lost through sin. Noth- 


Gop SPAKE 85 


ing could be more important for the world than to know 
that God actually did speak to man, instructing, enlighten- 
ing, empowering, and guiding him, and that this com- 
munication should be permanently preserved. 

It would be a strange contradiction of evidence to 
ignore or deny the fact that the hand of God has been 
definitely engaged in protecting and preserving his Word. 
Charles T. Bateman in his interesting volume, ‘The 
Romance of the Bible,’ follows with great care the his- 
tory of the writing and preservation of the Word of God. 
Its existence seemed again and again imperiled by neglect, 
by apostasy, by violent and determined efforts to anni- 
hilate it. In the ten great Roman persecutions the Book 
of the Christians, the Bible, was the especial object of 
attack; in each of the persecutions the effort at its 
annihilation was coextensive with the imperial power of 
the day. Nero, Domitian, Trajan, Hadrian, Septimius 
Severus, Marcus Aurelius, Valerian, and Diocletian suc- 
cessively undertook the obliteration of the Bible from 
civilization. Each effort proved not only abortive, but 
finally resulted in the multiplication of the copies of the 
Word of Life. Not only has the Bible proved its in- 
destructibility at the hands of its enemies, but it has with- 
stood even the greater danger, that of overthrow and 
defeat at the hands of its supposed friends. ‘There are 
few chapters in human history more weighted with sig- 
nificance than those which relate to the attitude of the 
Catholic Church toward the Bible at the time of Henry 
IV. The dungeon, the rack, and the flame were all em- 
ployed to prevent the common people from having the 
benefit of a free reading of the Bible. The fires of Smith- 
field were again and again proving the tremendous hold 


86 THe Tuirp FINALITY oF FAItH 


of the Bible upon the martyr spirits that suffered death 
because of their loyalty to the ever-living Word. The 
years following 1533 repeatedly witnessed the most ago- 
nizing martyrdom in the interests of an open Bible. Fryth, 
Anne Askew, Alexander Campbell were the first of many 
to lay down their lives for the Book of books. 

The history of the printing of the Bible is a very clear 
demonstration of divine purpose and supernatural inter- 
vention. ‘The steady and unrestrainable increase in the 
distribution of the Word since the days of the Reforma- 
tion is a clear evidence of the interest of God Almighty 
in the children of men, and the interest of Christianity 
itself in the Bible as the Word of God. To be of great 
value a revelation from God must be unmistakably in- 
telligible to the average individual. Precisely this is true 
of the Bible as has been proved by its effect upon the 
average life where it has been studied. The Bible is not 
only intelligible to the average mind but it is absolutely 
trustworthy. 


§3. The Authority of the Bible 


The Bible as we have it is an infallible guide to faith 
and practice in the Christian life. No one who has ever 
followed it has regretted it. No one has obeyed its teach- 
ings without being improved in character by such obedi- 
ence. If the Bible is a supernatural revelation, then it 
must have also a supernatural authority over the souls 
of men. It is perfectly proper that the severest tests 
should be applied to what is claimed to be the Word of 
God. Evangelicals find no fault with Biblical criticism 
if it is honest and consistent. The acid test of criticism 
has been applied to the Bible and it has failed to discredit 


Gop SPAKE 87 


the integrity, the authenticity, the credibility, and the in- 
fallibility of the Bible as God’s Word. The fire test of 
relentless logic leaves no declaration of God’s Word over- 
thrown nor even disturbed. For centuries the Bible has 
continued, and therefore the time test has been inexorably 
applied to it. How has it stood the test? Not a single 
claim has been invalidated. Every promise that has had 
opportunity for fulfillment has been fulfilled. ‘There 
failed not aught of any good thing which Jehovah had 
spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass” (Josh. 
21:45). If this could be said in the time of Joshua, 
certainly the added centuries have given no reason for 
any other verdict. Not only the prophecies but also the 
promises of God are continuously finding unqualified ful- 
fillment. God has used every variety of communication, 
apparently, that could be employed to make clear his in- 
tention and his purpose respecting man. We have in the 
Bible commandments, exhortations, descriptions, narra- 
tions, prohibitions, persuasions, denunciations, appeals, 
warnings, promises, all of which are declared to have 
come directly from God. The Old Testament Scriptures 
found absolute endorsement by Jesus Christ. He fre- 
quently quoted from them, and made many approving 
references to the teachings of the prophets, poets, and 
historians of the Old Testament Scriptures. Jesus said, 
respecting the Old Testament, “Think not that I am 
come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come 
to destroy, but to fulfil” (Matt. 5:17). 

The New Testament is a record of the life, the teach- 
ings, the doings, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus 
Christ. This record is attested by eye witnesses, emi- 
nently qualified. We find also a definite record of the 


88 Tue Tuirp FINALITY OF FAITH 


accredited beliefs of the early Church and the work of 
the Holy Spirit in inaugurating and unfolding the Church 
of Christ. In nothing is Modernism more reprehensible 
and dangerous than in the abandonment of God’s Book 
as authoritative on all matters. God as the Creator of 
man knows his need and is able to meet it. God is our 
ultimate authority on all things, and when God speaks, 
his Word is in a sense himself, and is final and authorita- 
tive. In the religious controversies of today the question 
of authority is the question par excellence. The holiness 
of God makes unthinkable either self-deception on his 
part or any disposition to deceive the children of men. 
No one can know the mind of God except as it has been 
definitely revealed. The attempt to transfer authority 
from revelation to personal experience is one of the 
conspicuous efforts of Modernism and also one of its 
conspicuous failures. What, after all, does it result in? 
A complete elimination of any and all real authority. 
Christianity is not hypothetical, it is not speculative; it 
is mandatory and positive. That God has a right to com- 
mand is beyond question. Furthermore, this right is in- 
herent with God, and is inherent nowhere else. The Bible 
is a Book of authority because it is an expression of the 
will of God. 

The moral breakdown of the world today is an appal- 
ling phenomenon. The reason for it is sought everywhere 
except in the right place. The criminality of today is due 
to rebellion against all authority. The rapid lowering 
of ideals and the weakening of moral effort is due toa 
repudiation of religious, civil, and parental authority. 
What is called “personal liberty” is nothing less than un- 
bridled license. Every man of reasonable intelligence 


Gop SPAKE 89 


knows that there is no such thing as unrestricted liberty 
in a governed world. That we must recognize law is a 
fact not questioned by the most radical Modernist. But 
he does not recognize the Bible as containing this right 
to command. It is absurdly assumed that our liberties 
become unduly restricted when we accept revelation as 
an authoritative guide. The very reverse is true. Revela- 
tion leads us to the higher liberty of obedience and the 
true freedom of personal choice. In the ordinary rela- 
tions of life it is plain that civilization itself must stop 
the moment law weakens to mere advice, and prohibitions 
are withdrawn. In a world where so many people are 
self-centered and indifferent to the rights of others, how 
long do you think it would be before our cities would 
present a wretched pandemonium? Let the police strike 
of Boston make its own revelations as to what would 
happen if authority were removed. The secret of liberty 
is unquestionably to be found in obedience to law. 
Abandon revelation, and you are thrown at once upon 
nature. Then where is freedom? It is a wretched illusion. 
In a mechanical world we have wheels and pulleys and 
cogs, but not a semblance of liberty. ‘The screaming 
sea gull can as easily control the tides of the ocean as can 
man overthrow the authority of God’s Book. Whoever 
thinks he is lessening his responsibilities by rejecting the 
Bible as an authoritative revelation is mistaken. He is 
coming between the upper and nether millstones of cosmic 
inevitableness where mercy is unknown and the star of 
hope never shines. Dr. W. L. Watkinson in his book, 
“The Fatal Barter” says truly: ‘The law of God as en- 
joined by revelation is an expression of reasonableness, 
righteousness, and benignity; the law of nature as inter- 


90 THE Trirp FNAuity or Fara 


preted by accredited scientists and philosophers signifies 
rule without reason, force without righteousness, and 
judgment without mercy. If we turn from the material 
universe and seek the laws of conduct in our own am- 
biguous nature, we find no royal law of liberty. The book 
of the soul is as blotted and obscure as the page of nature.” 
How then are we to be benefited by denying the right of 
revelation to dictate our conduct and determine our think- 
ing? “We dethrone the just and gracious lawgiver, and, 
having broken his golden scepter, proceed to occupy his 
place with blind, dark, capricious shapes or shapelessness 
called Fate, Force, Chance, Nemesis, Necessity, or Des- 
tiny.” Yet this is precisely the thing that Modernism is 
seeking to do. With shameless inconsistency, rationalistic 
Modernism denies the trustworthiness of the Word of 
God, and in the same breath quotes isolated statements 
and sentiments from the Bible to bolster up its own apos- 
tasy. A witness who has been discredited in a court of 
law is dismissed as unworthy of further recognition. 
Consistency demands that we either acknowledge the re- 
liability of God’s Book or dismiss it from consideration. 
It cannot be true and false at the same time. Moral 
chaos is inevitable where the authority of God’s Word is 
impugned. 

The fall of man, so definitely described in God’s Word, 
was the outcome of the repudiation of divine authority. 
The tempter told the first man that what God had told 
him was not true; that he would not suffer from eating 
the forbidden fruit, but would become wise like God him- 
self. Preachers and teachers who have inveighed against 
the truth and authority of the Bible will have much to 
answer for in the Day of Judgment. ‘To transfer the 


Gop SPAKE 91 


basis of authority from the Book to personal experience 
leaves the world with no certain guide anywhere or at 
any point. Man is fallible. His conscience is dulled by 
repeated transgressions. His moral sensibilities have be- 
come blunted. As the seat of authority, the human heart 
is a failure. 

To reach a supernatural goal we must have a super- 
natural message. This message must be weighted with all 
the authority of the scepter of the Eternal. No one 
would disparage the value of human experience. It is 
tremendously important in corroborating the testimony 
and authority of the Holy Scriptures, but not as present- 
ing a final and reliable source of commanding truth that 
can be impressed on other lives to their benefit and bless- 
ing. It is not to be doubted that our individual expe- 
rience may be very influential in assisting other lives, but 
when it comes to matters of the soul there must be some- 
thing final and infallible. When Modernists like Doctor 
McGiffert contend that we have found that we no longer 
have an infallible Word of God as a guide and that we 
no longer need one, our answer must be a point-blank 
denial of that which is only a bald assertion, unsupported 
by human history and individual experience. A recog- 
nition of the authority of God’s Word has preceded every 
great building era in the history of the human race since 
Adam. No one has ever been found who has felt that 
he had made a mistake in placing implicit confidence in 
the divineness of revelation. 

One of the surest evidences of the inspiration of the 
Book of God is the fact that it is ageless and equally ap- 
plicable to people of every period in the world’s history. 


92 Tue Tarp FInauiry or FarrH 


§ 4, The Place of the Bible in Modern Life 


No one can explain away the hold of the Bible on the 
heart of the world. It is indeed “the impregnable rock,” 
assailable but indestructible. Modern bombardment has 
not even made a dent upon it. It is proof against fire, 
flood, and ferocity. It stands all tests. It wears. It en- 
dures all weathers. It lives and works. It is the mightiest 
civilizing force next to the Spirit of God in the world to- 
day. Its ability to meet man’s greatest need and to an- 
swer his most difficult questions is proved over and over 
again by those who trust it, love it, and are commanded 
by its precepts. How impossible to conceive of Christian 
missions without the aid of the Bible! It makes its way 
among the most benighted people, and, having once gained 
recognition, it changes barbarous, degenerate, sinful 
groups of men into civilized, organized, and highly de- 
veloped Christian peoples. Instance after instance is pre- 
sented where a copy of the New Testament Scriptures 
has providentially found its way into some remote sec- 
tion of the globe among uncultivated and primitive people, 
and by sheer force of its own supernatural qualities, has 
exercised its beneficent influence and lifted tribes to 
‘levels far above the height attained by other tribes about 
it. 

There is no want of the human heart, no call of the 
immortal soul that does not find immediate response in 
God’s Word. ‘The wounds that nature cannot heal find 
here a balm. It gives to man all the qualities that are 
commended by reason and conscience. It enters into all 
the activities of humanity today as a distinct and definite 
feature of life. It enters the hovel of the poor man, and 


Gop SPAKE 93 


he feels consciously enriched; his courage is increased 
and his ideals of life are purified and exalted. It goes 
into the imperial palace, humbling the worldly great and 
revealing human dependence upon God. The man of 
highest intellect rejoices to utilize this great thesaurus of 
truth, and recognizes the superior excellence of the Book 
of God over all other literature in the world. In the 
privacy of individual experience, the Bible comes to as- 
suage sorrow, breathe sweet consolation, and create a 
cheerful attitude toward the unavoidable experiences of 
daily life. It enters the chamber of sickness and cools the 
fevered brow, giving a spirit of repose, peace, and rest, 
and a willingness to meet whatever in the providence of 
God may be necessary. It is the softest pillow for a dy- 
ing head, the greatest of treasures amid all the jewels of 
life. Its power to lift man from the lower levels to the 
hilltops of blessing is immeasurably great. It shapes our 
petitions in childhood and age. It increases capacity for 
divine wealth. It gives assurance of a companionship 
that never fails to afford assurance and confidence. 
Above all, it deals with the things of the Spirit just 
where all other knowledge fails us. It answers comfort- 
ingly the question of origin. It guides through the in- 
tricate maze of duty and accountability, and speaks with 
a familiarity of the world to come which makes us realize 
we are pilgrims on the way to a “city which hath founda- 
tions, whose builder and maker is God.” It answers the 
question: How can mortal man be just with God? It 
occupies mind and heart with thoughts that make the 
desert and waste places of the soul to bloom like a garden. 
In its marvelous adaptation to our moral and spiritual 
requirements, it proves its divinity. It talks eloquently 


94 THe Tuirp FINALITY oF FAITH 


of Providence and the overruling power of a good God 
who will never forsake his trusting children. In the pres- 
ence of sin, it brings relief through the proclamation of 
a Redeemer. And from the sea of fluctuating speculation 
it leads us to the Rock of Ages where our sense of security 
is absolute. No wonder that even infidels have been com- 
pelled to recognize the grandeur of the Book of books! 
Rousseau says, ‘Is a book at once so sublime and simple 
the work of man? Can it be that he whose history it 
relates was a mere man?” It unfolds to us the nature of 
Christ, and shows us a soul perfected in sympathy, sin- 
cerity, obedience, and love. It proves its own supernatural 
character by its wisdom and harmony in connection with 
all that pertains to immortality. For the individual life 
from the cradle to the grave, it supplies man with a sus- 
tenance nowhere else to be found. It answers the heart 
call in every dark night of tribulation. It stabilizes the 
emotions, re-enforces the will, awakens a sympathy 
almost divine, and sanctifies every human experience. 
When the day is done, it confidently leads us into an at- 
mosphere of quietude, peace, and assurance of abiding 
blessing in God. ‘Today as heretofore it is the mightiest 
civilizing influence on earth, exercising restraint where 
selfishness and sinful indulgence would make progress 
impossible. It rebukes pride, it denounces every form of 
infidelity. Men like David Hume, the infidel who directed 
many bitter invectives against the Bible, accomplish noth- 
ing save to discredit both their reputation and their lives. 
Of Hume, Doctor Johnson said, “He loaded a blunder- 
buss, directed it against Christianity, and sneaked into 
the grave leaving another to fire it off.” After all the 
centuries of blessed testimony as to the power and beauty 


Gop SPAKE 95 


of God’s Word, it is a poor time for men who profess 
to be wise above that which is written to attempt to lessen 
the hold of the Word of God upon the heart of humanity. 

The Bible is the supporter of every movement for social 
betterment. Wherever it has free course, the sanctity of 
human life is recognized. The power of love is utilized. 
It is impossible today to deal with the vital issues either 
of Church or State, with any degree of success, when 
you deny the authority, the integrity, the inspiration, yes, 
the infallibility of the Word of God. The pillars of 
civilization rest upon the enduring foundations of revealed 
truth. In proportion as nations get away from the Word 
of God they invariably decline and fail. If we love 
liberty, let us remember that God’s Word, as nothing 
else, has made it a realizable fact in the world. From 
the moment the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth until to- 
day, the Bible has been the animating and awakening call 
in the building of America’s great institutions. Its power- 
ful influence as seen in our libraries is recognized by our 
statesmen, while the indebtedness of artists and the 
world’s greatest musicians is gladly recognized. Charles 
Loring Brace in his book, ‘“‘Gesta Christi,” draws in bold 
outline the power and splendor of the influence of Jesus 
Christ, and at the same time pays tribute to the glory 
of the Word of God as the achieving cause of the best 
things the world has realized since the star of Bethlehem 
stood over the manger cradle. It was a believer in the 
Bible as the Word of God who formulated in 1641 the 
“Bodies of Liberty.” ‘That great advocate of liberty, the 
echo of whose voice can still be heard in Boston, William 
Lloyd Garrison, proclaimed his belief in the Book of 
books. He said, “The Bible Society is doing more to 


96 Tue Tuirp FINALITY oF Fata 


break the fetters of oppression and scatter the mists of 
delusion than all the patriotic associations and military 
ordersofthe world . . . ‘Take away the Bible, and 
our warfare with oppression and infidelity and intemper- 
ance and impurity and crime is at an end; our weapons 
are wrested away; our foundation is removed; we have 
no authority to speak and no courage to act.” 

Believers in the Bible as the Word of God founded 
every one of our New England colleges and universities 
and large numbers of our educational institutions through- 
out the United States. Whence came the laws which 
regulate our civic life if not from the Word of God? 
What gives to our civil government its right to recog- 
nition save the fact that it is the outgrowth of the prin- 
ciples and truth of God’s Holy Word? All our greatest 
jurists have expressed their profound appreciation for and 
belief in God’s Word. In the realm of religion, what 
leaders of religious thought capture the imagination of 
the people, hold the hearts of the people, awaken the 
aspiration of the people, save those who hold with ten- 
acity and without compromise to the Book of God as an 
authoritative declaration of his holy will? 

No one can fail to be impressed with the freshness, the 
vitality, the up-to-dateness of the Word of God. Liter- 
ature that lives is the outgrowth of meditation upon the 
never-dying truths set forth so explicitly in the Book of 
books, the immortal Bible. Sir Walter Scott said in a 
single sentence more than is contained in all his works 
of fiction: ‘There is only one Book.” This he said at 
that solemn moment when he particularly needed assur- 
ance, consolation, support, and peace, for he was about 
to pass from this world to the next, and called for “The 


Gop SPAKE 97 


Book.” When asked what book, his answer was, ‘“There 
is only one Book.” This is the Book that sets forth the 
regal dignity of man as man. This is the Book that por- 
trays the possibilities of every immortal soul. This is the 
Book that leads every soul to expect the best for himself 
under God, and knows the best that God is able to do 
will be done for the humblest child of the human race. 
This is the Book that sets forth the story of redemptive 
love. It gives the only true philosophy of life. It en- 
courages exploration and inquiry in every realm of 
thought. It has heartbeat, temple throb, hands, and feet. 
It is a living reality. It brings man face to face with his 
Maker, in whom he finds a Friend, a Helper, a Deliverer, 
and a Giver of life eternal. 


IV 


THE FOURTH FINALITY OF FAITH 
GOD CAME 


§i. The Virgin Birth An Essential Truth 


VERY proportionately large section of Luke’s 
Gospel and a considerable section of Matthew’s 
Gospel narrate in detail the method of the birth of 

Christ. The obvious meaning of the Bible concerning 
this is not a matter of question at all. It is clearly in- 
tended to convey to us the idea that ata certain time in 
the world’s history, which in the counsels of the Almighty 
was the right time, God decided visibly to enter human 
history. His purpose in this advent among men was to 
provide for the world a Saviour, and to make the world 
more definitely acquainted with himself. He desired to 
be known as in loving sympathy with every child of the 
race of men. Already he had adopted many ways to 
make declaration of his affectionate concern for the well- 
being of his children. None of the methods employed 
had sufficed to declare his love sufficiently to remove a 
certain dread as worshipers sought to approach him. The 
only way, so far as we can see, and certainly the way he 
took, was to come among men and pass the entire span 
of life from childhood to maturity, experiencing what 
members of the human race experience with the single 
exception of sin. God adopted this method of providing 
Saviourhood. 
98 


Gop CAME 99 


The Incarnation is so vital, so fundamental, so essential, 
that upon it hinges the whole redemptive scheme of God 
Almighty. With no sort of consistency can one claim 
the fact that redemption was wrought for the world, and 
at the same time deny the fundamental nature of the 
very thing that made a Saviour possible at all. Indeed, 
one may say, the supreme essential was the Incarnation. 
If this is believed, then with what sort of logic can one 
say, “I accept it, it is a part of the divine record, but I 
do not regard it as necessary or essential as an article of 
faith’? It would be just as consistent to say, “It is not 
necessary to believe in the foundation of a building or the 
roots of a tree.’ Since sin is sin, and God is love, a Sav- 
iour was necessary and inevitable. Since a Saviour is 
necessary, the only thing that could make him a Saviour 
is certainly not less necessary. 

The only historical evidence we have that God has pro- 
vided a Saviour we find in the Gospels. Two of these 
Gospels proclaim the Virgin Birth as the method whereby 
God actually entered into human life. We have the 
very same reason for believing the Virgin Birth that we 
have for believing any other part of the sacred record. 
The argument that Jesus Christ said nothing explicitly 
and directly about the fact of his being born of a virgin 
is entirely without weight when we recognize conditions 
as they were, and also that he made the most emphatic 
distinction between his own birth and the birth of others 
when he said, “My father” and “‘your father” in contrast. 
He never confused the two. It is an essential doctrine 
and a fundamental doctrine because without it the world 
has no Saviour. 


100 THe FourtH FINALITY oF Faire 


§2. Jesus Christ in the Life of the World 


For nineteen hundred years Jesus Christ has occupied 
the center of the stage in the drama of human progress. 
Concerning this fact there is no dispute. He has been 
the storm center in religious controversy. His coming 
into the world had been predicted with a definiteness 
of detail that made impossible any misinterpretation or 
misapplication of the prophecy concerning himself. The 
trustworthiness and credibility of Old Testament prophecy 
finds complete vindication in the historic fulfillment of all 
that related to the coming of Jesus Christ. From the 
protevangelium of Genesis to the last word of Malachi, 
one outstanding fact greets the reader at every step. 
Every page of the Old Testament contains a portrait in 
one form or another. It is a portrait of One who is to 
be the fulfillment of Israel’s hopes and the embodiment 
of all her ideals. 

Every promise in the Old Testament is in the nature 
of acovenant promise. That covenant promise invariably 
contemplated a seal of the covenant in the nature of the 
fulfillment of promise, in the coming of the Messiah. 
History, poetry, and prophecy were all to find their cul- 
mination in the incarnation of One who was to be the 
leader, the teacher, the deliverer, the redeemer, and the 
hope of Israel. The Old Testament Scriptures abound in 
symbols. ‘The purpose of these symbols is to definitely 
and finally relate man to God. ‘They invariably point 
to the advent of Jesus Christ. The interpretation of the 
significance of these symbolic utterances was to be found 
in the divine personality who was to come into the world 
in what the Scriptures call “the fullness of time.” 


Gop CAME 101 


Could anything be more impressive than the way in 
which God’s revelation stakes everything on the predictive 
element found in the books of prophecy? The Oracle of 
Delphi was accustomed to outline coming events in such 
an ambiguous manner that manifold interpretations were 
possible. No risks were taken by giving a definite and 
detailed declaration. The prophets of the Old Testament, 
under divine inspiration, clearly announced events hun- 
dreds of years in advance, and in such detail that when 
these events transpired there could be no reasonable ques- 
tion that they were the real fulfillment. The event fitted 
the prophecy as a tenon fits the mortise or as a cog its 
proper place in the pinion. 

You can as little question the history of the incarnation 
fitting in to the Messianic prophecy of the Old Testament 
as you can question the wheels of a watch fitting into 
their proper place in the watch’s mechanism. A failure 
at any point would mean a question as to the inspiration 
of the Old Testament Scriptures. In the first place, the 
fact of the coming of a Messiah was boldly declared im- 
mediately after the broken relations between man and 
God. The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent’s 
head. This was a clear declaration that God would pro- 
vide a method whereby a renewal of definite fellowship 
between himself and man should be accomplished. The 
mediator to come was to be born of a virgin. This as- 
tounding announcement seemed to be in the nature of a 
great hazard. The very thing that would seem to dis- 
qualify one from becoming an agency to effect a resto- 
ration of holiness in man was declared to be one of the 
distinguishing facts whereby he would be recognized. 

Again he was to be of the lineage of David. Here, 


102 Tue FourtH FINALITY oF Faire 


again, under ordinary human conditions, such a prediction 
would be in the nature of great risk on account of the 
uncertainty of the continuance of dynasties. In the 
vicissitudes of life thrones are torn down, crowns are 
trampled under foot, dynasties are broken, great names 
are forgotten, new dynastic eras are inaugurated, and 
there is no certainty of the continuance in prominence 
and power of lineal descendants for any long period of 
time. Hundreds of years before the event was to occur 
it was clearly announced that this great and unprece- 
dentedly noble personage should be born in the city of 
David. Naturally then he would be a Bethlehemite, but 
no, he was to be called a Nazarene. How impossible, 
humanly speaking, to reconcile the two facts! Who could 
possibly have anticipated for centuries the birth of a 
child in a Palestinian village whose parents were to be 
residents of Nazareth, a place of no prominence, but 
which was to be associated with his name forever? Could 
predictive prophecy have hazarded more than it did, in 
entering into the very minutia of events, which in them- 
selves had no possible connection with the time in which 
they were uttered, and from a human standpoint no prob- 
ability of fulfillment? But this was not all. 

He was voluntarily to offer himself substitutionally and 
in fulfillment of the sacrificial types represented in the 
temple service, and to become a sacrifice through which 
everlasting life would become a reality among men who 
accepted the offers of God’s mercy thus manifested. 
Notwithstanding the voluntary nature of this self-giving 
of life, his death was to be violent. “He was wounded 
for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: 
the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with 


Gop CAME 103 


his stripes we are healed” (Isa. 53:5). Even the nature 
of his entombment was predicted. ‘He made his grave 
with the wicked, and with the rich in his death” (Isa. 
a7e8). 

Prophetic risk reached its climax when it was predicted 
that this Messiah who was to redeem Israel would be 
slain by his own people, and entombed, and afterward 
would rise from the dead. Now the very last thing that 
could have been expected of a great deliverer was that his 
supreme achievement would be his death. It would have 
seemed to be, not a climax, but an anticlimax. Who 
would have dreamed, save under the mandate of a true 
inspiration, of risking his reputation as a prophet by de- 
claring that after death and entombment his hero would 
perform the incredible feat, unheard of in human history, 
of coming forth from the tomb through his own inherent 
life power? Surely if anything could make it evident 
beyond a peradventure that “holy men of God spake as 
they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Pet. 1:21) it 
was this prediction of resurrection from the dead. It 
adds to what, from a human standpoint, would be the 
audacity of the prediction to know that the fact of im- 
mortality was not declared at the time of the prophets 
with any such definiteness as it is revealed in the New 
Testament Scriptures. 

A series of events most extraordinary, unusual, and 
antecedently improbable brought about the literal fulfill- 
ment of every prophecy respecting Jesus Christ. Chang- 
ing world powers through wars, through the overthrow 
of dynasties, through the degeneracy of great kingdoms, 
and the inauguration of new empires,—all these contrib- 
uted to the accomplishment of the designs of the infinite 


104 THe FourtH FINAuITY or FAITH 


God, and effected the complete realization of every pro- 
phetic declaration. Moreover, those who were definitely 
at enmity against the men and movements that com- 
bined to bring about the fulfillment of prophecy were com- 
pelled under the providence of God to contribute largely 
to the vindication of the supremely important prophecies. 
How could the changing political conditions in Palestine, 
brought about by the supremacy of imperial Rome, lead- 
ing to a new method of registration and taxation, have 
been anticipated? And how extraordinary that they 
should all have contributed to the presence of Joseph and 
Mary in Bethlehem at exactly the time Christ was to be 
born! 

Scarcely had the echo of the angel song above the 
plains of Bethlehem died away when the infant Child of 
an inconspicuously unknown couple became the object of 
royal attention, and venomous hate. The simple inquiry 
of three strangers who told a story that ordinarily would 
have received no credence, and that was thoroughly mys- 
tical in its nature, sufficed to awaken the suspicion of 
Herod, leading him to a drastic and murderous method 
of removing the possibility of a rival candidate for the 
throne. So even in infancy, Jesus was the storm center, 
and around his young life the wicked purposes of unholy 
persecutors gathered, and not for one moment from that 
hour until the present moment has the storm fully ceased. 

The story of his matchless wisdom and power is re- 
lated in the four Gospels with such directness and trans- 
parent sincerity that only willful blindness can leave the 
intention of the authors and the meanings of their words 
obscure and uncertain. The Old Testament Scriptures 
represent a unity of thought and purpose affected by a 


Gop CAME 105 


single ideal, and that ideal is represented in the term 
“Messiah.” 

The thirty-nine books of the Old Testament form a 
unity and an entity nothing less than miraculous. ‘They 
point definitely to one great event, the coming of the 
Messiah. They have as their purpose, by narrative, type, 
symbol, prediction, and poetry, the increasingly definite 
portrayal of a divine personality, through whom God 
should become more perfectly known and the redemption 
of man completely effected. 

In the New Testament this same personality becomes 
the crystallizing center about whom all truth gathers. He, 
indeed, constitutes the Gospels and the Epistles. So evi- 
dent is the unity of the Gospels that any sort of eclecticism 
in dealing with the sacred narrative is irrational, and ab- 
solutely destroys the value of the whole. The mutilation 
or abridgment of the perfectly authenticated record of 
the coming, the doing, the teaching, the dying, and the 
resurrection of Jesus Christ leaves the impression of pur- 
poseful trifling with the most sacred of all truth. Itisa 
resistless logic. 

The entire Gospel is sacrificed when you reject any 
portion of the narrative every part of which has equal 
weight and importance so far as authenticity and credi- 
bility go. If the nativity story of Luke can be legitimately 
questioned, then certitude and assurance are nowhere to 
be found in sacred literature. Knowing that this is a 
fact, what can men do whose preconceived notions will 
not permit them to accept the fact of the Virgin Birth of 
Christ, and hence his deity, but repudiate the authority 
of the Word of God, and seek substitutes for authority 
elsewhere? 


106 Tue FourtH FINALITY oF Farra 


If God Almighty has spoken for humanity, then he has 
spoken confidently, positively, and authoritatively. If 
he has ever spoken to the world at all, it is in the Gospel 
narratives that describe the annunciation, the birth, the 
life, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 
You can no more shake this truth from the realm of 
reality than you can overturn the throne of God. He is 
blind indeed who fails to see that the whole testimony 
of the Gospel finds complete corroboration on the last 
nineteen hundred years of history. 


§3. Life of Jesus Christ in the Flesh 


What explanation can anyone offer for the achieve- 
ments of Jesus of Nazareth? Here was the son of a 
carpenter, brought up in an obscure town of Galilee which 
was without any particular political or social significance 
and the reputation of which was bad, who, except for a 
single event in his childhood, had arrested no general 
attention, but who all at once stands forth among his 
fellow men in striking contrast with them in every feature 
of his personality. He exhibited an excellence of char- 
acter that challenged the respect and admiration of those 
who became most intimately acquainted with him. He 
exhibited knowledge that baffled his enemies and amazed 
his friends. He revealed qualities of character so attrac- 
tive, so beautiful, so perfect, that the highest idealism 
could conceive of nothing to criticize in his life. 

From the very moment when a supernatural voice ac- 
credited him, on the occasion of his baptism, as the 
beloved Son of the eternal Father, a series of events 
transpired that arrested the attention of friends and 
enemies alike. It is impossible to overestimate the stu- 


Gop CAME 107 


pendous nature of the undertaking of Jesus Christ. 
Single-handed and alone he challenged the ecclesiastical 
powers of his day and routed them at every point, except 
in the exercise of mere brute force. His manifested 
love, his divine sympathy, his gentleness and kindness 
disarmed his critics, and gathered to him an increasing 
number of friends. His teaching was so far above the 
level of the thought and instruction of the most learned 
men of his day, and his evident familiarity with spiritual 
realities was so extraordinary, that the people thronged 
about him with a ready recognition of his incomparable 
superiority. 

He rebuked entrenched vice and aroused bitter hostility. 
Men have never readily consented to interference with 
either purse or passion. He dared to denounce Pharisa- 
ism, and pitilessly unmasked it. The ecclesiastical author- 
ities denounced him, and for a moment he met seeming 
defeat at their hands. He mercilessly exposed the sophist- 
ries of current philosophies of life and as a reward be- 
came the object of bitter scorn and contempt from those 
whose learning had led them presumptuously to assume 
the right to direct and control the thinking of their day. 

Just as today we are told that all “scholars” repudiate 
the right of Jesus to command, so then the scribes, Phari- 
sees, and others who constituted the intellectually elect 
were irritated by the superiority manifested in Christ, and 
yet refused him his right to instruct them. Unweaponed 
and alone he set out to overthrow accepted philosophies 
and false theories. He undertook no less a task than to 
turn the currents of history into new channels. Without 
definitely proposing to do so, he inaugurated a movement 
in human life which unseated kings and emperors, effected 


108 Tue FourtH FINALITY oF FAITH 


new national alignments on the basis of justice. He set 
in operation influences destined to give new value to 
human life, to destroy slavery among men, to usher in a 
new day for independence and personal liberty. 

In the light of history, is it not clear that every one of 
these things was successfully begun through the life and 
teachings of Christ, just at the time when the cross was 
throwing its shadow across his path? Jesus never per- 
mitted himself to be disheartened, discouraged, or de- 
pressed. He made his most positive prediction of victory 
on the very eve of his seeming defeat, when death was 
stalking near. He died a violent death at the hand of 
imperial authority, compelled by the clamorous cry of 
men who had lost the true ideal of religion, and who per- 
mitted envy and hate to dominate thought and action. 
His resurrection, which even his own disciples did not 
anticipate, was thoroughly accredited by competent and 
reliable witnesses. 

The proof that Christ had risen from the dead, irre- 
futably and finally for his immediate followers, became 
increasingly impressive and unanswerable through a series 
of supernatural activities. The hesitant and timid com- 
pany of followers suddenly became heroic, confident, and 
capable, and proceeded to bear witness to their belief in 
Jesus Christ as Saviour, Lord, and coming King, even at 
the cost of violent persecution, expatriation, and martyr- 
dom. It is perfectly evident to any sincere inquirer for 
truth that instead of having permanently departed from 
the world, Jesus Christ in reality never was more in it 
than after he had suffered death upon the cross and came 
forth from the tomb of the Aramathean. 


Gop CAME 109 


§ 4, The Need of Vision, Prevision, and Supervision 


A new vision of Jesus Christ and a new recognition of 
the Gospel is the crying need of the hour. Such a vision 
is never gained through science or philosophy, and least 
of all through modernistic theology. It comes only from 
personal, vital contact with the exalted Christ. The vital 
energies of Jesus are still communicable. Jesus can and 
does impart his own self to those who receive him as 
divine Saviour. Blood transfusion is a method of revital- 
izing anemic bodies. This is accomplished when one in 
full vigor is willing to open his veins in behalf of another 
in whom the forces of death have become predominant. 
Jesus Christ opened his veins for the sins of the world, 
and today there is no soul weak, weary, and spiritually 
emaciated that may not be saved, empowered, purified, 
through a divine blood transfusion by faith. A union 
with Christ which is effected through human faith con- 
veys to the inquirer for truth and the one longing for 
power the divine forces which ever exist in Jesus Christ. 
Spiritual blindness is a very prevalent disease. 


As really as Bartimeus needed the miraculous touch 
of Jesus to restore sight to his natural eyes, so men who 
think they have sight but have not need their eyes opened. 
Much of the trouble of the present hour comes through 
the exercise of a presumptuous supervision where there 
is no vision. Many men regard themselves as fully 
competent to speak upon the things of the Spirit who have 
no more qualification for that high and holy task than 
has an infant child to speak about the comparative philos- 
ophies of the world. An illustration of this has recently 
been given us in the pronouncements of visionless men 


110 Tue FourtH FINAuITY or Faire 


regarding the future life. Luther Burbank, in the name of 
science, denied the reality of immortality. Mr. Burbank 
had gained the admiration of his fellow men for his 
painstaking work in horticulture. Mr. Burbank had done 
nothing, however, that would lead anyone to have the 
slightest faith in any utterance of his respecting matters 
of the soul. He allowed himself to be absolutely en- 
grossed with materialities. Neither by education nor 
experience had he the slightest qualification to speak on 
the subject of destiny. As well might a blind man offer 
his services as a guide in an unknown region of a great 
forest as for Mr. Burbank to have offered his services as 
an instructor in the soul’s relations to a God in whom 
he did not believe, concerning a future which was to him 
a myth. 

Whenever a man pronounces himself an infidel, he has 
by that very fact disqualified himself as a judge of re- 
vealed truth or as an interpreter of the things of the 
Spirit. This sort of leadership is not confined to mathe- 
maticians and horticulturists. Many scientists become in- 
sufferably dogmatic in the domain of ethics, theology, 
and philosophy. Seminaries and churches are suffering 
a serious blight from the destructive influences of super- 
visors whose eyes have never been opened to the pro- 
founder things of human personality, and who unhesitat- 
ingly confess that they have no faith in regeneration 
as a vitalizing force or in the Holy Spirit as an educative 
influence. 

Values are comparative. The Government takes every 
pains to secure a reliable and an unchangeable standard 
by which it may determine the accuracy of weights and 
measures. It is certainly not less important that there 


Gop CAME 111 


should be some absolute standard of duty, righteousness, 
and justice. There must be some final court of appeal 
to which we can refer all mooted questions of a moral 
nature. We must know what is true and what is false. 
If there is such a court of appeal in the world, it can 
only be at one center. Jesus Christ is positively the 
final standard by which motives and thoughts and actions 
are weighed and measured. ‘To the life and teachings 
of Jesus we may safely refer all that pertains to spiritual 
excellence. When we know Jesus has spoken, no con- 
trary or antagonistic utterance should have the slightest 
influence. 

But how may we know the thought of Jesus, and how 
may we be sure of his verdict on questions referred to 
him? In two ways, and only two. By a diligent and 
serious study, and with obedient purpose, of the inspired 
New Testament Scriptures. One of our great statesmen, 
in a critical moment of the Nation’s history, said, “Let 
us raise a standard to which the wise and honest may re- 
pair.” Precisely this is the need of our day, and that 
standard is to be found in Jesus Christ as he is presented 
to us in the Gospels and Epistles of the New Testament. 
No one who is willing trustfully, prayerfully, and lovingly 
to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ need be left in 
a state of uncertainty or doubt with respect to the course 
he should pursue regarding any great essential spiritual 
truth. At no point is Liberalism and materialistic Mod- 
ernism more hopelessly at sea than right here. No satis- 
factory standard is offered. A very babel of confusion 
results when individual experience is regarded as the 
authoritative standard of duty. Such a standard is in- 
definite, mutable, and untrustworthy. 


112 THe FourtH FINAuITY or Fairn 


That a crime wave, perilous in power and proportions, 
has been sweeping over the world is too well known to 
require any additional evidence. There is a defiance of 
authority, a repudiation of control that affects life in 
domestic, social, and political relations. Many influences 
are responsible for this condition, but the chief cause may 
be traced directly to the church where leaders and teachers, 
of whom we should expect better things, have discarded 
the Bible as the Word of God and refer to it sneeringly 
when authority is claimed for it. 

With the denial of the authority of the Bible, which is 
only another way of saying the authority of Jesus Christ, 
goes invariably a denial of a Day of Judgment. When 
‘Emperor William in his address to his army urged them 
to unrestrained action, assuring them that they might 
burn, slaughter, destroy, violate all rules of war in their 
effort to gain victory, he concluded his exhortation with 
these words, “The day of judgment will ask you no ques- 
tions.” Say what you will of the fear of punishment as 
being an ignoble motive, nevertheless it is true that the 
majority of the human race is living upon a plane where 
a Day of Judgment does make a powerful protest against 
iniquity. Remove all thought and fear of a Day of Judg- 
ment and you have unleashed the hounds of evil desire 
from a billion kennels, and a riot of self-indulgence fol- 
lows as sure as night follows day. 

The natural and logical fruit of abandonment of hes 
authority of the Bible, and the Christ of the Bible, is to 
be seen in the ““Komintern” of Russia. There the slogan, 
“No king, no God,” has brought forth its destructive 
progeny. Organized unbelief in the authority of the 
Word of God produces Bolshevism, theologically as weil 


Gop CAME 113 


as politically. In Russia it has resulted in an organized 
determination to crush civilization and bring a blasting 
curse upon the world. Socialism, when it is finished, 
brings forth Communism, and Communism, when it is 
finished, bringeth forth evil in its foulest forms, and 
ultimately death itself. All this goes under the name of 
progress. Who is so blind that he may not be able to see 
that the ruthless, rampant criminality so widespread in 
our country is born of a contempt of law? We stand ap- 
palled where government is flouted and the church exe- 
crated. Parental control is sneered at as old-fashioned, 
and children and adults alike, instructed in Sunday-school 
and church by modernistic teachers that “the Day of 
Judgment will ask you no questions,” are indifferent to 
all claims of duty. 

But the Day of Judgment will ask questions. Con- 
science and the inspired revelation of God, declare it with 
unequivocal positiveness. Shall we take the opinion of 
deluded and self-deceived men, uninspired, unenlightened 
by the Holy Spirit, who boastfully claim self-sufficiency, 
and disbelief in regeneration, in preference to revealed 
truth accredited through the centuries and along the lines 
of which all human progress has been gained? The im- 
mutable and perfect standard of spiritual values is “Jesus 
Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” 
The sinfulness of human nature does not disappear. In 
every age and among all peoples it throws its shadow 
over human life. How shall the shadow of gloom and 
sin be dispelled? How can we explain the attitude of 
unbelief prevailing today in religious circles? There is 
a reason. 

Everybody familiar with the facts knows that we are 

8 


114 Toe FourtH FINAuITy or Fata 


living in an age marked by extraordinary progress. Man 
has become masterful in a hundred directions. We vie 
with the birds of heaven in flight, and the ordinary ob- 
structions of both earth and air have been successfully 
overcome. We have conquered the sea and traversed its 
hidden paths with the submarine. We walk upon the 
very floor of the ocean and compel it to give up its secrets. 
The veins of the earth have been tapped, and precious 
metals in unprecedented abundance increase our wealth 
and enable us successfully to carry on our work in science 
and art. With the gyroscope, we have mastered gravity. 
We have learned how to multiply indefinitely the products 
of the soil through our larger knowledge of chemistry. 
We have almost indefinitely increased our power of 
vision through the microscope, and our laboratories tell 
the story of the far reach of our discoveries in the region 
of the infinitesimal. The mysteries of yesterday become 
the commonplaces of today’s knowledge. We are success- 
fully repelling the invasion of physical enemies hitherto 
undiscoverable, or elusive and uncontrollable. We sweep 
the heavens with our immense telescopes, and the distant 
stars answer our inquiries. ‘There are no questions rela- 
tive to man’s well-being to which we do not address our- 
selves daringly, and with competence. 

But in all this progress we have discovered nothing that 
particularly assists our quest for truth in the realms of 
righteousness. Furthermore, in all this progress human, 
nature has undergone no change that lessens its inclination 
to sin. What has been done is the development of intellec- 
tuality, and indeed a volitional energy, to such a degree 
that pride and self-assurance are conspicuously character- 
istic. ‘This accounts for the presumptuous attitude of 


Gop CAME 115 


those who no longer see any need of either God or his 
book. If God is spoken of, it is with a repudiation of 
his sovereignty, and with an effort to desupernaturalize 
him. 

There are two ways in which the regnant authority of 
the Infinite can be destroyed. One is by desupernaturaliz- 
ing God, and the other is by supernaturalizing man. Dr. 
Arthur C. McGiffert of Union Seminary says, “Divine 
and human are recognized as truly one. Christ, therefore, 
is human and must be divine as all men are. Christ is 
essentially no more divine than we are or than nature is.” 
Dr. Henry W. Clark in his “Liberal Orthodoxy” says, 
“The incarnation of God in Christ is nothing else than 
the incarnation of God in all men carried to the super- 
lative degree.” Of course this leaves no place whatso- 
ever for God’s redemptive scheme, nor do these men 
intend that there shall be any place for any Atonement 
whatsoever. Whatever is supernatural is taboo by Mod- 
ernism. 

The approach to the Bible and to every Christian doc- 
trine is with the anti-supernaturalist one of repudiation. 
In this there is perfect consistency, since they approach 
the whole matter with an objection to the deity of Christ. 
It was once thought consistent to state that the Gospel 
account could be treated eclectically. The irrationality 
of such a proceeding is now recognized with the result 
that the historicity of the entire Gospel is ruled out of 
court. Douglas C. Macintosh in the American Journal 
of Theology informs us: ‘Recent radical critics have 
declared that the Jesus of liberal Protestantism is also 
fiction.””’ Now to what information have these repudi- 
ators, so assertive of their superior knowledge, access 


116 THe FourtH FINALITY oF FAITH 


that entitles them to their claim? Have they a better 
knowledge of Jesus than the writers of the Gospels, or 
even of Peter and Paul? In view of the transcendant 
claims both of the Gospel writers and of Jesus himself, 
it is not so strange that having denied Christ his historic 
place and character, these men, vain in their own conceits, 
dare to declare him unbalanced and self-deceived. When 
you begin with the rejection of the validity and trust- 
worthiness of the Bible there are no lengths to which you 
may not go. The question of Dr. C. K. Anderson is 
quite to the point: “Can the Christian church make the 
great change of belief which the acceptance of Modernism 
would involve, and remain the Christian church?” The 
answer is not difficult. It certainly cannot. 

This is all made very clear by Dr. Rudolf Eucken: 
“Tf Jesus therefore is not God, if Christ is not the second 
person in the Trinity, then he is man. We can therefore 
honor him as a leader, a hero, a martyr, but we cannot 
bind ourselves to him or root ourselves in him, we can- 
not submit to him unconditionally. Still less can we 
make him the center of a cult.’”’ But let us note that 
Doctor Eucken is mistaken in one thing. You could not 
make him even a hero or a leader, for by his own claim 
thus rejected, he would make himself the greatest of de- 
ceivers or the most pitiable of the self-deceived. It is ut- 
terly absurd to attempt to give Christ any place of honor 
and distinction if he is merely one of the human race. If 
Christ is not worthy of worship, he is not worthy of re- 
spect. Indeed, the one thing Jesus claims for himself is 
worship, and this he can only do as he justifies his claim 
to deity. 


Gop CAME 117 
§5. The Christ All the World Is Needing 


Where, except to Christ, can we look for the correc- 
tion of present-day evils and the protection of humanity 
against the crime wave of today? If ever in the history 
of the world there was a necessity of an application of a 
power that will evict evil from the human heart and in 
place of it establish holy purpose and conscious freedom, 
it is now. Sin debauches, mars, and destroys. No way 
has been discovered whereby man can wantonly defy 
God’s laws and ignore the voice of conscience without 
moral deterioration. The only religion that has attempted | 
to deal successfully with sin is Christianity. 

The claim of Jesus Christ, not only to forgive sin but — 
to evict the powers of evil in the heart, has been vindicated 
in the experience of untold myriads of lives. Never more 
than today was the evangelistic note needed. Christ must 
be presented as the sin destroyer. Sin cannot be success- 
fully camouflaged. Iniquity of every sort is glossed over 
by the utterance of a language deceiving as to the conse- 
quences of law. If there is no penalty for sinning, then 
it is safe to sin. You cannot remove all thought of judg- 
ment and keep up the morale of any community even to 
the point of respectability. 

By parable, metaphor, and direct utterance, Jesus tells 
the story of human destiny. He does this so clearly that 
a wayfaring man, though a fool, need not err therein. 
We must hark back to the teachings of Jesus as effectu- 
alized by the cross, and this will do more than anything 
else to correct the evils of today. A rediscovery of the 
cross of Christ is what Modernism needs to humble it, 
cleanse it, and refine it. It is when we see God doing his 


118 THe FourtH FINAvITy or Fata 


best for humanity on Calvary that we come to feel the 
full force of the blackness, the darkness, and the mean- 
ness of sin. Jesus said: “The Son of man is come to 
seek and to save that which was lost.” ‘And this is life 
eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and 
Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” When the claims of 
Christ are diluted by Liberalism, they mean no more than 
a moral influence with no real eradicating power. 

Multitudes are talking glibly of “self-expression” and 
“self-repair” until they really seem to believe that to 
turn one’s self loose and do whatever desire demands is 
pleasing to God. Also they believe that the torn, mangled, 
dying soul carries in itself all essential forces of repair 
and restoration. Now just as it is true that the doctrine 
of the cross does work, so this theory does not work. 
The repair is not effective, the blemish is not removed, 
unholiness does not give place to holiness, and the down- 
ward trend is continued. 

It is conspicuously and undeniably true that where the 
Saviourhood of Christ is denied, or the doctrine of sin 
is diluted, sin remains unrebuked and uneradicated. ‘The 
branch that does not abide in the vine has just one sig- 
nificant feature. It is sterile. Right now in churches 
where the call of the cross is never heard the story of 
the barren fig tree is repeated. Doctor Forsyth has truly 
said with respect to the claims of social ethics: “The 
only adequate social ethic is found in Christianity and 
there only at its center, the cross of Christ.” How absurd 
to talk of the needlessness of an atonement when God 
has acclaimed it a necessity! 

We have been hearing much about social righteous- 
ness. What sort of appeal has it made to humanity? 


Gop CAME 119 


Not any worth while. How much of a response has been 
called out by the appeal of what is termed “public jus- 
tice’? Certainly nothing virile or commensurate with 
the need of the hour. Destroying the image and super- 
scription on the Gospel coin may be a pleasing pastime 
to half-hearted believers, but it does make that coin use- 
less as circulating currency in the realm of the Spirit. 
The Gospel without the cross is just as valuable as a 
flashlight from which you have taken the battery. 

The Christ the world needs today is the Christ who 
expresses God’s sympathy for sorrow. The universality 
of tears is one of the saddest commentaries on human 
life. No one who believes in a God of love can doubt 
that it is the will of God that man should be full of 
cheer, hope, and happiness. How often Jesus uttered the 
words, “Be of good cheer”! But this is a world rank 
with dissensions, and a world of tear-stained faces. 
Heartaches abound on every hand. You can only deal 
successfully with sorrow at its source. Tears will flow 
until the cause is eliminated. Jesus Christ and he alone 
is able to remove the cause, and he does it when per- 
mitted. Sorrow is largely caused by negligence, selfish- 
ness, and cruelty. Families are dismembered through 
violated covenants, and hope is destroyed through the 
grinding processes of an industrial régime which has 
deliberately ignored the claims of justice. 

The sorrows incident to bereavement are overwhelm- 
ing without belief in the presence of a sympathetic, em- 
powering Saviour. Until a broken heart hears Christ’s 
“T am the resurrection, and the life,’ and knows that 
the resurrection of Jesus Christ guarantees immortality 
and eternal felicity to all who are identified with him, 


120 Tue FourtH FINALITY oF FAITH 


then and not until then is grief assuaged, and sorrow 
which death would make intolerable becomes bearable. 
Jesus Christ is the one supreme power in the world to- 
day that brings relief to overburdened souls. Not more 
really did he heal sickness, comfort in distress, when 
visibly present in Galilee, than he does today where faith 
and trust permit it. 

To deal successfully .with sorrow, Jesus Christ must 
deal also effectively with death. This he has done and 
is ever doing. He changes the grave from a goal to a 
gateway, and opens the vista through which enough can 
be seen to give assurance and awaken glad expectation 
of reunion beyond the tomb. ‘The fact is that Christ is 
at work in his world. A burdened world has today an 
available Christ who is abidingly near, and whose tender- 
ness and sympathy are still expressed in “Come unto me, 
all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give 
you rest.” <A rejected Christ means a stricken humanity 
with no relief. No merely human Christ can heal the 
hurt of the world. 

How are the broken ideals of home to be restored? 
How is parental authority to be restored to its proper 
place? In just one way,—the re-establishment of the 
authority of Jesus Christ over all the relations of life; 
a recognition of the right of Christ to rule in the home; 
an appreciation of parental responsibility and education 
along the lines of obedience to the divine law. ‘This is 
the only way in which we can hope for the recovery of 
home purity and home power. It is the opinion of our 
eminent jurists that there will be no material diminution 
in the ethical slump of today until family life is brought 


Gop CAME 121 


back again to the position it has held in the Christian 
church through the centuries. 

We are hearing much about world brotherhood. It 
cannot be too much stressed. Its importance is im- 
measurably great. How can it be accomplished? How 
can centuries of race prejudice give place to interracial 
understanding and amity? Scores of fraternal organiza- 
tions are seeking to better the interrelations of men. One 
thing is evident. All the conditions of our day make the 
old-time national isolation absurd and impossible. Our 
commercial relations reveal the interdependency of all 
peoples on earth today. Facilities of travel have made 
it possible to ignore the element of distance. The pos- 
sibilities of mutual helpfulness have never been more 
asserted and believed than today. We may organize as 
we will, and through treaties declare our good will, but 
one thing is sure, the enthronement of Jesus Christ as 
the Lord of the nations is the only thing that can per- 
manently insure peace and bring about brotherliness 
among the nations of the earth. 

The effort of the leading nations of the world to bring 
about an understanding through covenants that will re- 
quire nations to arbitrate their differences rationally is 
encouraging and reassuring, but this will never take the 
place of a recognition of the Lordship of Jesus Christ. 
The slogan, ‘“The Fatherhood of God, and the brother- 
hood of man,” must be made virile and vital through the 
Saviourhood of Jesus Christ. It remains a mere asser- 
tion, and is impotent to relate humanity amicably together, 
until Jesus Christ becomes “Lord of all.” 

If, then, the importance of a clear vision of Jesus 
Christ as he is proclaimed in the Gospels is so indis- 


122 Tue Fourty Frnaurry or Farr 


pensable to the world’s good, every consideration of 
spiritual progress demands a consecrated ministry. In 
the days of his flesh Jesus uttered the call to the disciples, 
literally translated, “Hither after me.’ ‘The same mys- 
terious power to secure consent and surrender that re- 
sulted in the obedience of the fishermen of Galilee abides 
in Christ today. He utters the word, “Hither after me,” 
and earnest disciples surrender all and follow. Just as 
he spoke to incarnate evil, manifested in the demoniac 
of Gadara, “Be muzzled, come forth,’ so today he has 
the power to evict evil from politics, industry, society, 
and the home. 

Men and women are clothed and are restored to nor- 
malcy when, and only when, they yield to the claims of 
Jesus Christ. He still cries through his chosen ministers 
who are loyal to his truths: “Repent ye, and believe the 
gospel.” Sin is still sin, and Christ is the only Saviour. 
The air is full of dust, but the winds of God will clear 
it away. Jesus commanded the unclean spirit in the 
demoniac in the synagogue to be silent, and the evil 
spirit said, “I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of 
God.” He refused to accept that sort of patronage. ‘To- 
day Jesus Christ will have none of the applause of 
camouflaged unbelief which plumes itself on its ability 
to pass judgment on the very acts of Jesus with a critical 
denial of his claims regarding himself. The Gospels 
with their account of the annunciation, the incarnation, 
redemption, resurrection, ascension, and intercession are 
to be taken boldly, or not at all. They meet all the 
conditions of human need and are consistent with every- 
thing we know about God, and when boldly accepted 
become a “savour of life unto life.’ There is either 


Gop CAME 123 


a complete redemption, or there is none. Christ is 
everything, or nothing, to humanity. | 

If Christ is to receive his rightful place m the world 
today, it will be because faithful witnesses who have 
experienced the blessings of regeneration will make him 
known. All through the centuries since Jesus uttered 
his call to Peter and Andrew, James and John, he has 
been repeating that cry and call, and because it has been 
responded to with enthusiasm and devotion, the church 
of God has experienced its wonderful progress. The 
marvelous power of Jesus Christ in the hearts of men 
has been demonstrated in the maintenance of a Christian 
ministry and missionaries. 

Jesus promised the early disciples that they would be- 
come fishers of men. It is tremendously important that 
the significance of a call to the ministry be rediscovered. 
There are hundreds and thousands of pastorless churches 
in America. Is it not strange that in the times of per- 
secution, deprivation, danger, the church has never been, 
without men of daring and self-denial to accept her 
great challenges? ‘Today it is different. The need is 
no less, the call is just as urgent, but other vocations are 
successful in winning our young men. What is the rea- 
son of this dearth of men for the ministry? The reason 
is not far to seek. 

When the issue was recognized as a life-and-death 
matter, when the significance of the words “lost” and 
“saved” were fully understood, when men could engage 
in the ministry supported by “Thus saith the Lord,” when 
the same kind of redemptive urge which led Jesus Christ 
to Calvary was felt in the hearts of spiritually regenerated 
men, there was no difficulty in meeting the needs of the 


124 THe Fourta FINALITY oF FAirH 


church. There was no consideration given to the sacrifice 
and deprivation that might be experienced. When the 
stake is eternal life, and men know it and have a con- 
sciousness of even a moderate ability, there is no hesitancy 
in undertaking ministerial service. It is interesting to 
note that the periods of Christian history when the church 
has enjoyed her largest progress have been those periods 
when worldly emoluments were least. 

The reason why young men hesitate to enter the min- 
istry is largely because the Christian church is herself 
honeycombed with doubt. The great verities of the Word 
of God are held in question. Inspiration is doubted. 
Young men are not so sure that anything serious will 
happen even if men do not repent and believe in the 
Gospel. Attractive opportunities to acquire wealth and 
gain positions of eminence are open on every hand to 
the youth of today. Why should they make the sacrifices 
involved in accepting a call to the ministry, where neither 
wealth nor fame are likely to await them? 

Does anyone doubt for a moment that there are thou- 
sands of young men today ready to lay aside all their 
dreams of ease, and all their hopes of eminence provided 
they can be convinced that the eternal well-being of many 
immortal souls depends upon the presentation of a Gospel 
message at its face value? But they are not so convinced. 
In the appeals that three denominations have sent out, 
all differently expressed, the basis of the appeals has been 
public justice, social righteousness, ethical idealism; but 
not in a single instance the fact that man is lost without 
Jesus Christ and that a proclamation of salvation by way 
of the cross is the urgent need of the hour. If the voice 
of Jesus, the Christ of today and of every day, is heard 


Gop CAME 125 


as an authoritative command of the Saviour, there will 
surely be response. 

What has been the motive that has led thousands of 
men and women to expatriate themselves, enter upon 
difficult tasks in foreign lands, oftentimes to hazard death 
itself? Is anyone in doubt who has read the history of 
missions? Missions today are in danger, more than many 
of the leaders of missions realize, because the physical 
and intellectual appeal has taken the place largely of the 
spiritual. 

It is gratifying to note that there are still large numbers 
of our young people who have been born of the Spirit, 
who know that they have been saved by the grace of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, who believe the Gospel in its entirety, 
and who long for nothing more than the opportunity to 
preach Jesus and the resurrection to people who have 
never had the opportunity of knowing the Christ of 
Calvary. We have no misgivings regarding the final 
victory of Christ, the Bible, and the Church. The com- 
pany of believers who hold undeviatingly to the Bible 
as the Word of God, and to Jesus Christ as God manifest 
in the flesh, by whom reconciliation with God is effected, 
are, with God himself, a majority, and for these victory 
is assured. A brighter day awaits the human sky. 


§6. What Jesus Claimed for Himself 


In all the great practical questions among the people 
of civilized nations, political, social, and religious, Jesus 
Christ has been the one conspicuous personality to whom 
these questions have been referred for answer. He has 
represented the perfect ideal by which it is agreed the 
world should live. His command, his example, his do- 


126 THe FourtH FINAuiry orf FAItH 


ing, his dying, his presence as a world power, — these 
have controlled those most advanced in their thinking, 
most aggressive in their activity, most noble in their 
purposes. “Whom say ye that I am?’ This question 
propounded by Jesus Christ to his own disciples has 
echoed and re-echoed through all the centuries since. 
Immediately, when Jesus began to teach, opposition was 
aroused, in spite of which he moved steadily on to the 
accomplishment of his great mission. 

Do not for a moment suppose that the skepticism, 
apostasy, and antagonisms of today, with their sophist- 
ries and delusions, are in any respect new. It may 
safely be said that not one new challenge to Jesus Christ 
has been advanced for eighteen hundred years. The 
objections presented to the deity and the Saviourhood of 
Christ were all discussed from every viewpoint before 
the end of the Fourth Century of the Christian era. No 
new light of any kind has appeared to discredit the life 
and teachings of Christ. The difficulties which confront 
the Church today, the misapprehensions, the false teach- 
ings, have nothing new about them, not even in their 
phraseology. “Who is this?” “Whence hath this man 
this wisdom?” “Is not this the carpenter?” “Is not 
Mary his mother?” “Are we not acquainted with his 
brethren?” ‘These were the questions spoken dispar- 
agingly of Jesus when his popularity was rapidly in- 
creasing, and the fact of his supernatural working could 
not be successfully denied. 

There is one thing upon which the people of every age 
have been agreed, “Never man spake like this man.” For 
the first time in human history, there are men who have 
the temerity, the audacity, and the presumption to sit in 


Gop CAME 127 


unfavorable judgment upon Christ, disparaging his learn- 
ing and in some cases even the spotlessness of his char- 
acter. “I find no fault in him” has been the verdict of 
the centuries, and it has been left to a few radical Mod- 
ernists to try to set aside this verdict. The number and 
quality of those who speak disparagingly of Jesus Christ 
is such as to make them absolutely negligible in our con- 
sideration. If then it is true, as it is, that Jesus Christ 
is accepted by all great leaders and teachers as the perfect 
type of character, then what he says of himself should 
be final with us. Since there is a consensus of opinion 
that no one has ever lived who has spoken at so high a 
level, or manifested such a perfect life, or expressed such 
wonderful wisdom as did he, how can we get away from 
the fact that all the laws of logic and life demand that 
we should accept Christ on his own recognizance and 
at his own estimate of himself? 

Imagine a man standing before any congregation, mak- 
ing supernatural claims for himself and asking the im- 
plicit obedience of his auditors to his commands on the 
basis of his wisdom and rightful authority! He would 
at once be called intolerably egotistical, overbearingly 
presumptuous, and all of his utterances would be dis- 
counted. In proportion to his self-assertion his influence 
would be destroyed. When men undertake to present 
their own virtues your immediate thought is, we will 
investigate with care before we accept this man’s estimate 
of himself. What are the feelings awakened in us when 
we discover that from beginning to end, the public utter- 
ances of Jesus were a conscious, self-assertion and self- 
expression? It is never suggested to us to rebuke him 
for it. Who has ever thought of Jesus Christ as ego- 


128 THe FourtH FINALITY oF FAITH 


tistical? Yet his life is one continuous employment of 
the personal pronouns, “I,” “Me,” “Mine.” “I am the 
way,’ “Iam... . the truth,” “Come unto me,” Breathe 
your prayer to me, I will answer your prayer. If you 
want divine blessing, I can give it. All this we accept 
as perfectly natural and in every way legitimate. 

The very thing that would repel you if expressed in 
other men proves an attractive power in the case of Jesus. 
We cannot question that he is speaking out of an infinite 
knowledge, a flawless goodness, and a divine relationship 
with the Father absolutely unique. We instinctively and 
naturally feel as we study the life of Christ that he has 
a right to declare himself as the true manifestation of 
God. Other religions present theories and doctrines, but 
Christianity presents Jesus himself because he offered 
himself as the solution of all great human problems of 
the soul. Other religions have “systems” of truth. Jesus 
is the personification, the incarnation, the demonstration 
of truth. Christianity is more than form, more than 
doctrine, more than ethical teaching. It is a Person, and 
that Person is Christ himself. 

What then are the claims which Jesus made respecting 
himself? When we have answered this, we should find 
ourselves perfectly satisfied respecting his wonderful per- 
sonality. 

1. First, Jesus made the perfectly tremendous claim 
of pre-existence. ‘The eternity of his personality he de- 
clared unmistakably. He said, “Before Abraham was, I 
Am” (John 8:58). He uses exactly the same terms 
employed by Jehovah to Moses, — “I AM hath sent me 
unto you.” When the Pharisees and Sadducees were 
expostulating with Jesus for presenting himself as above 


Gop CAME 129 


the Old Testament prophets, and boastingly declared 
themselves to be the children of Abraham, Jesus said, 
“Before Abraham was, I am.” At the moment of su- 
premest solemnity in his entire life, just before he was 
to surrender his life for the sins of the world on Calvary, 
when he was breathing out such a prayer as was never 
expressed from human heart, he prayed that the disciples 
might share his glory, and asked of the Father, ‘“Glorify 
thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had 
with thee before the world was” (John 17:5). This 
was a moment of all moments when he would express the 
deepest consciousness of his own soul. Thus he makes 
the claim of eternal existence. Moreover he says, “For 
thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world”’ 
(John 17:24). 

2. Jesus also makes the claim, without one word of 
apology or explanation, of supernatural birth. Nothing 
can be farther from the truth than that Jesus Christ did 
not make a claim that his birth was entirely different 
from that of ordinary humanity. There was no reason 
for Jesus to speak extensively and in detail of his virgin 
birth. There are a hundred reasons why he naturally 
would not do so. He does, however, make sufficient 
declaration to indicate his full realization of unique son- 
ship with God. Jesus said, “Ye are from beneath; I 
am from above” (John 8:23). He contrasts the method 
of his coming into the world with that of all others. He 
calls himself the only begotten Son of God (John 3:18). 
What meaning could these words have on any other basis 
than the Virgin Birth? In thus declaring himself the 
only begotten Son of God he set the seal of supernatural- 
ism upon the method of his entrance into human life. 

9 


130 Toe FourtH FINALITY oF FAITH 


We have the Gospel in miniature in Jesus’ own words, 
“‘God.so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten 
Son.”” What more could he have said indicative of his 
supernatural origin? It certainly is sufficient to satisfy 
those who are prepared to believe what Jesus claimed 
for himself. 

Of course there is mystery in the Incarnation. There 
is mystery in God. Otherwise he would not be God. 
There is no more mystery in God’s working in that 
miraculous and marvelous manner, in inaugurating his 
human life among men, than in any other special mani- 
festation of God to men. Not only is it not incredible 
or unfitting, but it is what might be expected under the 
assumption that God was to redeem man. Once make 
the assumption or accept the evident declaration of the 
Old Testament Scriptures that God cares for humanity 
and proposed to redeem man from sin, then the most 
natural thing in the world would be for him to come in 
such manner as would connect him definitely with hu- 
manity, while at the same time he retained his deity, 
thus becoming the God-man and connecting man definitely 
with God. So far as we know, there was no other way 
in which he could have accomplished this purpose. No 
plan has ever been suggested or devised whereby God 
could come into the world, combining a perfect humanity 
with an unquestioned Deity, except through the Virgin 
Birth. Whatever we may think of it, Jesus claimed that 
this was the way God took to redeem a lost world. We 
have the choice of recognizing the claim of Christ, or of 
saying he was self-deceived or purposely deceived men. 
He was evidently conscious that he (if we are to believe 
his own testimony) came into the world in a miraculous 


Gop CAME 131 


manner, thereby qualifying him completely to demon- 
strate the redemptive love of God. 

3. He claimed for himself sinlessness. What could be 
more preposterous than for a human being on a public 
platform to say to his auditors, “I have never sinned” ? 
No one could more successfully dismiss his congregation 
than by such an utterance. They would at once say, ‘““We 
wish to hear nothing more from this man’s lips. His 
mind is perverted. He is spiritually color-blind. He can- 
not see himself as he is.” How does it affect you when 
Jesus says, “Which of you convinceth me of sin?” ‘This 
challenge was the strongest way in which he could say, 
“T have committed no sin.” 

Jesus offered no prayer for the forgiveness of his own 
sin. Our attention is called repeatedly to his periods of 
praying but not by one single intimation or suggestion 
does he indicate anything like repentance or the need of 
it. Indeed, he claims he had nothing for which to repent. 
He declared himself totally exempt from the experiences 
of humanity in the matter of sin. Why? Because he 
came in perfect purity direct from God. He partook of 
no taint of human flesh because of his supernatural birth 
and because, moreover, he was in perpetual, undeviating, 
unremitting fellowship with the Father. He said with 
all sincerity, and we heartily accept as true this estimate 
of himself, “I do always those things that please him.” 
This was nothing less than the claim of absolute per- 
fection of character. No higher perfection of life can 
be conceived of. 

When we contemplate the absolute holiness of God, 
and find Jesus declaring that his life corresponds with 
that holiness, we are not only not repelled, we are drawn 


132 THE FourtH FINALITY oF FAITH 


to him because in our very souls we know his claim is 
true. We look with suspicion upon people who with 
much parade say, “I am sanctified, and commit no sin.” 
But when Jesus declares his sinlessness it does not awaken 
in the heart even the spirit of criticism. 

4. Jesus claimed that he was here on earth in the ful- 
fillment of a supernatural mission. He does not leave 
us in doubt as to what that mission was. “I am come 
that they might have life, and that they might have it 
more abundantly” (John 10:10). Again he says, “The 
Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was 
lost” (Luke 19:10). Again, “I came not to call the 
righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Mark 2:17). “I 
give unto them eternal life’ (John 10:28). “As Moses 
lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the 
Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in 
him should not perish, but have eternal life’ (John 3: 
14,15). He was only a lad of twelve years when he said 
to his parents who anxiously sought him and found him 
in the temple, ‘““Wist ye not that I must be about my 
Father’s business?” (Luke 2:49.) He does not say, 
“Our Father’s business.” 

There was a sense of inner compulsion with Jesus 
throughout his public ministry. “I must work the works 
of him that sent me” (John 9:4). “Jesus . . . must 
go unto Jerusalem” (Matt. 16:21). All this means that 
his unique mission created an imner urge in his soul that 
never left him. His business under the Father’s commis- 
sion was to redeem a lost world from sin. The world 
was moving headiong toward permanent ruin. Jesus was 
perfectly conscious of his spiritual mission, and knew 
it to be entirely different from that of any other being 


Gop CAME aco 


who had ever lived. He was “the Lamb slain from the 
foundation of the world” (Rev. 13:8). He came into 
the world to save sinners through his sacrifice on Calvary. 

5. Again, Jesus claimed that he had a supernatural 
message. He said that the truth he was proclaiming was 
the truth that he had with the Father. “Iam... the 
truth’ (John 14:6). In substance he proclaimed him- 
self to be the world’s one spiritual teacher in whom re- 
sided all the truth he was proclaiming. He declared that 
the Good News he was bringing to the world was that 
men may be related eternally and happily with God 
through the gift of his own life. He claimed that by 
his own sacrifice the inevitable consequences of sin would 
be removed from every believing, trusting soul because 
he was about to take those consequences upon himself. 
such a claim from anyone but Christ would outrage 
every sense of truth and justice. There is not a single 
reality in all the universe of God that does not find 
itself perfectly at home in the person of Christ. Creative 
truth, social truth, redemptive truth,—all these were 
incarnate in him. This at least is what he claimed. Was 
the claim true? Has it been the experience of humanity 
that when any individual relates himself definitely to 
Jesus Christ his discovery of truth is greatly increased? 
There is but one answer to this question. New revela- 
tions are ever coming to the soul of the obedient disciple 
when he recognizes Jesus Christ as the incarnation of 
highest and holiest truth. 

6. A supernatural mission, a supernatural message, and 
in addition to this, supernatural insight into the hearts of 
men! Jesus was continually claiming to be able to read 
the hearts of his friends and enemies alike. He passed 


134 THe Fourta FINAuity or FAITH 


positive and final judgment upon the scribes and Pharisees 
when they expostulated with him because his disciples 
did not practice the traditional, ceremonial washings. To 
Nathaniel, who expressed surprise at Jesus’ recognition 
of his character when he had said, “Behold an Israelite 
indeed, in whom is no guile,” he said, “Before that Philip 
called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee” 
(John 1:48). “He knew what was in man” (John 2: 
25). “Jesus knowing their thoughts” (Matt.9:4). “He 
knew who should betray him” (John 13:11). “Jesus 
knew from the beginning who they were that believed 
not” (John 6:64). Thus Jesus claimed the most perfect 
knowledge of the human heart and based his right to 
pass judgment upon his intimate acquaintance even with 
the motives of men. No one who has ever lived would 
dare even for a moment to pretend such ability. Such 
wisdom could reside only in God, yet Jesus claimed it. 

7. Jesus declared himself possessed of supernatural 
power. How did he make this claim? By expressing the 
power. Does any one rightfully question that Jesus 
worked miracles? Can there be the slightest question 
that Jesus thought himself to be a worker of miracles? 
“All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth’ 
(Matt. 28:18). There is one thing concerning which 
there could be no difference of opinion, namely, he per- 
mitted the multitudes to believe that he was working 
away above the level of ordinary humanity. He permitted 
his disciples to believe that he was working miracles. 
They believed he healed all manner of sickness and all 
manner of disease and that he raised the dead. Either 
he did work miracles, or he was the grossest of deceivers, 


Gop CAME 185 


or he was himself the most deluded of any who have 
lived upon the earth. 

The disciples had no doubt as to the truth of this 
miracle working and Jesus allowed them to entertain that 
thought regarding himself. They believed he restored 
the son of the widow of Nain to life by his own super- 
natural energy. He either knew he did this miraculously, 
or else he was deliberately deceiving the people. Is it 
conceivable that he who thus wrought works of restora- 
tion and life-giving could in such solemn moments will- 
ingly deceive the people? But certainly it is no less 
impossible that we should think him self-deceived. With 
his clarity of judgment, his evident intellectual superi- 
ority, and his moral perfection, he certainly could neither 
willingly deceive nor could he have been deceived. He 
wrought miracles. ‘There is no reason why he should not. 
There is no claim so unanswerable as the claim of demon- 
stration. Men may claim many things by assertion but 
when they make claims by demonstration that is another 
matter. Jesus did the things he claimed to do, and we 
have the record of it unmistakably plain in the Gospels. 

8. Another claim Jesus made for himself was the power 
and the right to forgive sins. Can you forgive sins? Has 
any man ever lived who could truthfully say, “I can 
forgive your sins’? This was one of the principal claims 
that awakened the enmity and antipathy of the Jewish 
hierarchy. When they heard Jesus say, “Thy sins are 
forgiven thee,” instantly and with indignation they cried 
out, “Who can forgive sins, but God alone?” Jesus made 
no objection to their assertion. He knew it was true, 
yet he persisted in his claim. He said, “Whether is easier, 
to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and 


136 Toe FourtH FINALITY oF FarrH 


walk?” “But that ye may know that the Son of man 
hath power upon earth to forgive sins.” This was a 
tremendous claim. It was made the basis of a bitter 
attack upon Jesus. Yet he made the claim positively, 
unambiguously, and even with emphatic assertion. When 
the accusers of the woman taken in sin sat in judgment 
upon her character, and Jesus uttered the command that 
went like a knife to every heart, “He that is without sin 
among you, let him first cast a stone at her,’ one by one 
they slunk away and Jesus turned to the woman and said, 
“Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more” (John 
8:11). In answer to the declaration of his opponents 
that no one can forgive sins but God, Jesus practically 
said, “You are quite right; but I can forgive sins, and 
you can draw your own conclusions.” 

9. Not less remarkable than the claims heretofore 
noted is another. Jesus declared that he had the power 
to impart eternal life. Not only could he forgive the 
sins of the past, but he could and would give to every 
believing soul eternal life. This did not refer merely to 
immortality. Eternal life as employed by Jesus Christ 
means a life of everlasting felicity, a life resulting from 
the forgiveness of sin. Jesus said, “I give unto them 
eternal life’ (John 10:28). Note the “I.” Jesus claimed 
the power to come to any individual seeking him, for- 
give sin, eliminate the effect of sin, take away the guilt 
of it, perfect and cleanse the heart, and so contribute him- 
self to that soul that eternal life would become the glad 
experience, and that nothing could destroy or set aside 
the life thus given. He did this by virtue of the fact that 
inherent in himself were the very forces of God that are 
communicable to others. “As the Father hath life in 


Gop CAME 137 


himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in 
himself” (John 5:26). He said of this life of his that 
he claimed to be able to contribute to others, ‘I have 
power to lay it down, and | have power to take it again” 
(John 10:18). Again he declared, “Whoso eateth my 
flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life’ (John 
6:54). 

10. He claimed the power and the willingness to im- 
part full salvation to man. This meant that the for- 
giveness of sin that he declared himself able to exercise 
included a removal of the sense of guilt from the sinner 
thus forgiven, and in addition to that a removal also of 
the love of sinning. A mere declaration of the forgive- 
ness of sin would avail nothing, because it could not and 
would not remove the sense of ill desert which when 
acute becomes the worst of punishment. Jesus was to 
remove the guilt of sin by his own sacrifice, and the 
love of sinning by his own indwelling in the soul. When 
you read the parable of the lost sheep, and the lost coin, 
you discover that when one has been lost by his own 
sinfulness, and has been found by Christ, he is completely 
restored. The power of Christ to take complete pos- 
session of the throne-room of the soul, and dominate life, 
is the most satisfying thought we can ever entertain. 

11. A claim that is nothing less than stupendous and 
overawing is the claim of Jesus Christ of absolute equality 
with the Father. ‘The glory which I had with thee be- 
fore the world was.” These are the words of Jesus. 
Unequivocally, then, he makes the claim of equality. He 
says, “I and my Father are one” (John 10:30). The 
entire context makes it evident that he did not mean 
merely one in disposition and in mutual sympathy as 


138 Toe Fourta FINALITY oF Faire 


one of us would say to another, “I am one with you in 
purpose.” Jesus was not speaking of that. He referred 
to the essence of being. He and the Father were identical 
in that respect. When Philip said, “Lord, shew us the 
Father, and it sufficeth us,” Jesus answered, “Have I 
been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known 
me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.” 
This is one of the greatest of the claims of Jesus. If 
what he said was true, then all the rest goes with it. His 
power to work miracles, his power to forgive sin, his 
ability to give himself definitely to his disciples, — all 
these are a perfectly natural manifestation of this super- 
natural personality. Just as his enemies objected to what 
they distinctly understood to be his claim to forgive sin, 
so in like manner one of their special accusations was 
that he claimed equality with God. Of course they did 
not believe his claim, but the fact that he made the claim 
was beyond question. “Therefore the Jews sought the 
more to kill him, because he not only had broken the 
sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making 
himself equal with God” (John 5:18). 

12. Jesus claimed the right to command men. From 
beginning to end in the teachings of Jesus we find him 
assuming absolute authority. He speaks with the air of 
one who had a right to exercise full control over the 
destinies of men. “If ye love me, keep my command- 
ments.” He says nothing about advice or counsel nor 
does he express a wish or a hope regarding the action of 
those whom he addresses. Do you know of any man 
living who could stand before a congregation, even 
though his life fulfilled all the demands of highest ethical 
standards, and demand immediate obedience to every 


Gop CAME 139 


command uttered? Yet no one in his right mind resents 
it when Jesus commands. It is especially true that those 
who have found him a Saviour and Friend rejoice in his 
commandments which they do not find grievous but only 
the completest directions to the highest life. To Peter 
and Andrew Jesus said, “Follow me.” Literally, “Up, | 
after me.’ He did not advise it. He did not say, “I 
wish you would follow me.’ No, he said imperatively, 
simply, ‘Follow me.” No prophet who has ever lived, 
no great teacher who has stood before the world as peer- 
less in mental power and moral excellence has ever pre- 
sumed, in his own name and by his own right, to say, 
“Follow me.” Obedience to the commands of Christ 
has invariably proved a blessing. But the main point 
here is he assumed a prerogative that belongs to God 
alone. 

13. He claimed the right to receive worship. Every 
believer in God Almighty as the creator, preserver and 
benefactor of men recognizes the right of God to receive 
the worship of his creatures. If any man among us to- 
day were to exhort his fellow men to bow down and 
worship him he would excite abhorrence and contempt. 
We are never so affected with regard to Jesus Christ. 
The reason is not far to see. It is because he has a 
right to expect worship. In what ways did he make this 
claim? By willingly accepting it. He never rebuked 
those who accorded him the same worship given to the 
Father. At the time of the triumphal entry when the 
children cried “Hosannah,” and many among the multi- 
tude engaged in the act of worship, the Pharisees en- 
treated him to stop these expressions of adoration and 
praise, claiming that worship belonged only to God and 


140 THe FourtH FINALITY oF Faire 


he was receiving worship. Instead of expostulating, 
Jesus answered that if the children should be quiet the 
very stones would cry out. When Thomas, after the 
resurrection, was invited to touch the wounds in his 
hands and his side, and when he cried, ‘““My Lord and 
my God,” Christ uttered no protest. He accepted the 
appellation as perfectly appropriate for himself. If Jesus 
had not been conscious of deserving worship he would 
not have received it. 

14. Jesus declared himself the true and final judge of 
all men. ‘When the Son of man shall come in his glory, 
and all the holy angels withhim, . . . he shall sep- 
arate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his 
sheep from the goats” (Matt. 25:31, 32). He declared 
he would exercise the prerogative of judge toward all 
mankind. “The Father . . . committed all judgment 
unto the Son” (John 5:22). This is most extraordinary. 
To exercise a judicial function when the issue is eternal 
life could not possibly belong to any mere man. No man 
could have the knowledge or the wisdom, nor would he 
have the right to pass a final determining judgment upon 
any human personality. Jesus did not hesitate a moment 
in proclaiming himself the judge of all men. This was 
equivalent to a declaration of his own consciousness of 
his deity. 

15. It is very important to recognize that Jesus 
claimed the power to meet every need of those who would 
come to him. ‘Come unto me. . . and I will give you 
rest” (Matt. 11:28). Again, “Whosoever drinketh of 
the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the 
water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water 
springing up into everlasting life’ (John 4:14). Jesus 


Gop CAME 141 


said, “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35). Thus Jesus 
declared that he had within himself that which would 
completely satisfy every want of any and every child 
of humanity who would come obediently and worship- 
fully to him. Hunger and thirst are two of the greatest 
expressions of want. Bodily suffering reaches its acutest 
manifestation when deprived of bread and water. On 
the other hand these two symbols represent satisfaction. 
No trusting disciple who has gone to Jesus conscious of 
great spiritual need, and has simply made known his 
wants and asked for supplies, has ever been disappointed. 
Jesus therefore claimed that within himself resides that 
which will meet every need of every child of the human 
race, any time, anywhere. You have never heard any 
one say, “In my sorrow and affliction I looked to him 
but he did not hear me. He turned his back upon me. 
He left me without peace, and my heart hunger was not 
met.” You have never heard it. He not only claimed 
that he could satisfy the deepest needs of the human 
soul but he demonstrated his claims by doing it; and 
he has never failed. If in our weakness we feel a need 
of power, Jesus will give it sufficient to meet any and 
every emergency. If restless and peaceless, we long for 
relief from the distress of such discontent, we hear him 
say, ‘““Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you’ 
(John 14:27). There is no holy aspiration, no noble 
longing to which Jesus does not respond to the extent 
of perfect satisfaction. 

16. Companionship with his followers. Still further, 
Jesus claimed his ability to insure an abiding fellowship 
between himself and anyone who should be willing to 
walk in close companionship with him. He clearly de- 


142 THe FourtH Finauity or Faire 


clared that he would forever and ever companionate men. 
“Lo, Iam with you alway” (Matt. 28:20). Though he 
knew he would be absent as the physically embodied 
Christ, yet he unequivocally declared that he would still 
walk with men along life’s highway. He promised to 
abide with any and every soul that desired association 
with him. He promised to be an inspiring friend and 
helper to the very end of life. Surely he could make no 
such promise as this had he not claimed equality with 
God. Omnipresence belongs to God alone. 

17. Protector and defender. Jesus claimed that he 
would become a fortress to every endangered individual 
and thus protect men in the hour of great crisis. Speak- 
ing of the disciples who had already committed themselves 
to him he says, “No man is able to pluck them out of 
my Father’s hand” (John 10:29). “Be of good cheer; 
I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). “I kept 
them in thy name” (John 17:12). Who has the ability 
to act as an abiding defense to the soul of man? Who 
can guard against those unseen dangers which are so 
deceiving, so surreptitious, so cunning, and so cruel? The 
powers of darkness are ever seeking the destruction of 
the souls of men. If eternal vigilance is the price of 
liberty in the political world, much more is it the price 
of liberty in spiritual relationships. The ever living Christ 
concerns himself to act as advocate and defender and 
protector wherever his services will be received. 

18. Jesus proclaims himself as the world’s supreme 
attraction. “TI, if I be lifted up . . . will draw all men 
unto me” (John 12:32). Here again we find a state- 
ment that in anyone else save Jesus Christ would be the 
evidence of inordinate conceit, the most intolerable pride 


Gop CAME 143 


and boundless arrogance. Comparing himself with all 
religious leaders, and all the philosophers of all the years, 
and all the prophets who have ever lived, he dared de- 
clare that by virtue of suffering and an ignoble death on 
the cross, which ordinarily would be a disgrace, he would 
become the conspicuous figure of the ages, and in addi- 
tion to that would draw to himself a multitude of loyal 
disciples who would be willing to die for him. Has he 
done it? Who has been the center of attraction through 
the past centuries? Who, today, religiously and spir- 
itually, holds the thought of the world? ‘There is but 
one answer. Jesus Christ, the crucified and risen Lord. 
Millions of professing followers give him not only their 
esteem and admiration, but also their worship. Lifted 
on Calvary Jesus became an atoning Saviour. Since this 
was the world’s greatest need, nothing could be more 
natural than the hold it gave Christ upon humanity. In 
the church as an organization, in the individual disciples 
today, lifting up Christ as Redeemer and Friend is the 
one method of calling in the multitude for worship and 
service. 

19, Jesus claimed to have the power to establish a 
universal kingdom. He claimed the power to overcome 
every hostile influence and make his kingdom permanent. 
Alexander the Great had dreams of world rule through 
conquest. He was not so foolish as to believe it would 
be permanent. He had no dream of establishing or hold- 
ing it through any other power than the unsheathed 
sword. Jesus lifted religion above nation and race. 
Christ’s all-inclusive word was “whosoever.” Who are 
the people today who flock to Jesus Christ? People of 
every clime, tongue, and nation. Christ’s “whosoever” 


144 THe Fourth FINAvLITY oF Faire 


breaks down all partition walls, all class and racial bar- 
riers. Christ’s kingdom will never be overthrown. It 
will stand the stress of every storm of apostasy, unbelief, 
and violent antagonism. “He shall have dominion also 
from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the 
earth” (Psa. 72:8). The kingdom of Christ is the an- 
swer to the question whether or not Christ is able through 
the power of his atoning love to establish and develop a 
true kingdom on earth. 

20. Power over death. Finally, Jesus claims that in 
himself will forever reside the energies that will over- 
come sin, disease, and death. He manifested his power 
over sickness by healing all manner of sickness and all 
manner of disease. ‘The last enemy that shall be de- 
stroyed is death” (1 Cor. 15:26). The resurrection of 
Jesus Christ is a proclamation to the world that Christ 
has vanquished death. He said, “Destroy this temple, 
and in three days I will raise it up’ (John 2:19). In 
raising the son of the widow of Nain, and in raising 
Lazarus from the dead, and in walking forth in the 
fullness of life from the tomb in the garden, Jesus gave 
full and final assurance that death has forever been con- 
quered. In him is life everlasting. “I am the resur- 
rection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he 
were dead, yet shall he live’ (John 11:25). All these 
claims of Jesus Christ are the claims of a victor and not 
of a victim. They are the claims of one possessing the 
wisdom and the power of God. They are the claims of 
God. Not one jot or tittle of any of the claims of 
Christ will ever fail. He is forever the Son of God, and 
God the Son. 


Vv 


THE FIFTH FINALITY OF FAITH 
GOD REDEEMED 


§1. The Vicarious Sacrifice 


S CREATED, man was pronounced by his Creator 
“good.” This meant at least that he was innocent. 

How long his course was right we do not know. 

From the Scripture narrative, apparently he very quickly 
brought himself under divine condemnation by dis- 
obedience to law. The law of holiness was inherent in 
his being. The violation of God’s commandment was a 
violation of moral law, and the immediate result was 
moral decline. The teaching of the Bible respecting the 
fall of man is corroborated by everything we know of 
man in history and from individual experience. God’s 
pronouncement in the way of a command was only a 
declaration of the law of life and health and growth which 
was essentially in the constitution of man, independent 
of any declaration of it. When a moral law is violated 
the spiritual nature is marred, vision is blurred, the power 
of decision is lessened, and the vital forces of the soul 
are reduced. “Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth 
death” (Jas. 1:15). By a failure to conform to the 
requirements of spiritual health and peace or a deliberate 
and intentional violation of law, man sinned, and his 
relationship with God was changed. In the third chapter 
of Genesis a full account of the terrible tragedy which 

10 145 


146 THe Fiera Finauitry or Faire 


occurred in the early experiences of mankind is set forth. 
From that time on, the concern of revelation is with a 
re-creation of man. How to restore that which was lost 
by sin was God’s great problem. 

In the nature of the case, a holy and just God could 
have no part in a life filled with the unfruitful works of 
darkness. God must be just and then the question would 
be: How can he justify man who was not just? The 
Bible statements respecting sin are very explicit. With 
respect to legal requirements the Scriptures state, ‘This 
do, and thou shalt live” (Luke 10:28). In Romans 10: 
5, Paul writes, ““Moses describeth the righteousness which 
is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall 
live by them.” But suppose no written law were given, 
which was true in the case of the Gentiles, what then 
would happen? ‘The apostle finds a law written on the 
hearts of men, and if this unwritten law were properly 
kept God would have respect to that. But in reality the 
law, whether that which is written in the heart or that 
which 1s definitely given by the Almighty in revelation, 
is never kept. Hence sin has entered into the world. 
God frowns on disobedience and upon sin and can have 
no part with it. Man’s condition is then one in which 
a reconciliation must be effected between himself and 
God. “We pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled 
to God” (2 Cor. 5:20). “Whosoever committeth sin 
is the servant of sin” (John 8:34). It is true that a 
person is sometimes not conscious of the disastrous effect 
of transgression. When he does become conscious of it, 
he knows at once that nature cannot save him and that 
he cannot save himself. If he proceeds in an earnest 
effort to recover what he has lost by a new obedience, 


Gop REDEEMED 147 


his weakness and failure are revealed to him anew. If 
man could not be justified by works, some basis of justifi- 
cation other than his works must be offered. 

Such a justification is promised through faith in the 
Saviour. ‘Therefore being justified by faith, we have 
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 
5:1). Many Scriptures emphasize the possibility of 
justification through man’s faith in Jesus Christ. “All 
things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by 
Jesus Christ . . . God was in Christ, reconciling the 
world unto himself . . . and hath committed to us the 
word of reconciliation. We are ambassadors for Christ 
. . . we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to 
God” (2 Cor. 5:18-20). Man then is received into 
divine favor whenever he exercises faith in Jesus Christ 
as God’s Son and man’s Saviour. The faith we are to 
exercise is trust, which means a self-giving, an implicit 
dependence. When Nicodemus went to Christ and asked 
what he should do to inherit eternal life, for this was 
the substance of the motive of his inquiry, he was pointed 
immediately to God’s only begotten Son upon whom 
every believer must depend for life eternal. ‘The wages 
of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through 
Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 6:23). ‘This is the 
work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent” 
(John 6:29). The essence of the Gospel is to be found 
in the statement of Jesus regarding himself, “The Son 
of man hath power on earth to forgive sins’ (Mark 2: 
10). The purpose of the death of Christ is clearly 
announced to be the forgiveness of sin. On the occa- 
sion of the institution of the Lord’s Supper, Jesus pro- 
claimed that his blood was being shed for the forgiveness 


148 THe Fiera Finauiry or Farra 


of sin. In Romans 3:24 we find, “Being justified freely 
by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ 
Jesus.” The reason for the death of Christ is proclaimed: 
“That he might be just, and the justifier of him which 
believeth in Jesus’ (Rom. 3:26). It is clearly repre- 
sented that the consequences of our sin and guilt were 
taken by Christ upon himself through his death. “We 
have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of 
sins’ (Eph. 1:7). “Having made peace through the 
blood of his cross” (Col. 1:20). Could language more 
clearly declare that through the death of Christ man re- 
alizes his salvation? It is expressly stated also that the 
death of Christ was voluntary. “I lay down my life for 
the sheep. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down 
of myself” (John 10:15, 18). “Who gave himself for 
our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil 
world” (Gal. 1:4). “Who gave himself for us, that he 
might redeem us from all iniquity” (Tit. 2:14). It was 
because of our sin that Christ died. ‘Christ died for our 
sinsuel Corl S2i3a. 

The language of Scripture presents the death of Christ 
as a redemption. “To give his life a ransom for many” 
(Mark 10:45). “Ye are bought with a price’ (1 Cor. 
6:20). Through this redemption we are freed both from 
the guilt of sin and the love of sinning. God gave his 
only begotten Son, and Christ voluntarily came. Christ 
offered himself as a ransom-price for the salvation of man. 
There is no getting away from this if you accept the 
Bible at all. One thing is perfectly sure: No needless 
sacrifice would ever have been offered by God Almighty. 
It is a historic fact that such a sacrifice was offered. To 
theorize and speculate regarding what God might have 


Gop REDEEMED 149 


done avails nothing whatsoever. The record reveals what 
he did do; and God would do nothing either unlovely or 
unwise. By this sacrifice a real reconciliation was ef- 
fected. It does positively, effectively, invariably work. 
It secures to the soul a conscious peace with God. He 
was pleased to reconcile all things to himself, having made 
peace through the blood of his cross (Col. 1:20). In 
this salvation, eternal life is assured. The whole world 
was resting under condemnation, and death was the in- 
evitable result so far as any effort of man was concerned. 

Who was this effecting man’s redemption? He was 
the One who had been promised as the Messiah, who 
was to redeem mankind and inaugurate a Kingdom. His 
coming was thus prophetically anticipated for centuries. 
An angel visitant made a definite announcement to a 
maiden of Nazareth that she was to become the vehicle 
whereby God was to come into the world and redeem man. 
The whole thing was supernatural, but in perfect accord 
with what we might have expected a God of infinite love 
and grace to do, i. e., to call back to himself the lost and 
erring children of the human race. Jesus Christ lived a 
perfectly holy life and met all the conditions necessary 
to become the fulfillment of every sacrificial type. The 
central fact in the earthly record of Jesus was his death 
on Calvary. In giving his life as a ransom Jesus fulfilled 
his mission. It was for this and this alone that he came 
into the world. When Jesus said, “I, if I be lifted up 
from the earth, will draw all men unto me” (John 12: 
32), he proclaimed the fact that not through his teaching 
or his life but through his sacrifice we have remission of 
sins, The Cross represents the supreme dynamic of deity. 
The creation, with all its wonderful expression of super- 


150 THe Firra FINAvITY oF FAITH 


natural energy, was not so tremendous as was the ex- 
pression of the spiritual power of the Infinite on Calvary. 
The Scriptures make perfectly clear the fact that to trust 
in the redemptive work of Calvary is to insure individual 
forgiveness. God himself was in action on the cross of 
Calvary. Christianity isa Person. ‘That Person is Christ. 
And the most stupendous fact about Christ is his voluntary 
sacrifice for the sins of the world. Jesus would have be- 
come an object of admiration by virtue of his exalted 
teaching and his stainless life. But it was Calvary that 
made Jesus an object of worship. The Person of Christ 
is not only inexplicable but it is impossible apart from the 
cross, and until the wayfaring man becomes a truth-seek- 
ing man and a salvation-seeking man the cross will be 
foolishness to him and the person of Christ enigmatical. 

The one thing to be reckoned with, when we contem- 
plate eternal life, is the holiness of God. It is on account 
of his ineffable holiness that unforgiven sin dooms an 
individual to separation from God. What we call punish- 
ment is not in the nature of an arbitrary decree sentencing 
a man to doom, as an expression of imperial power, but 
it is the result of realities which even God himself can- 
not change, namely, the reality of holiness on God’s part 
and sin on man’s part. The cross, then, represents the 
act of God himself who had respect to his own holiness, 
and made possible through expiation the sustaining of that 
holiness, while at the same time it makes possible the 
removal of both the guilt of sin and the love of sinning 
from those who exercise personal faith. The cross is 
thus a true ground for forgiveness. The cross expresses 
the inevitable reaction of holiness against sin, and mani- 
fests grace in an unmistakable manner. If there is any 


Gop REDEEMED 151 


other way in which God might have secured this recon- 
ciliation between sinful man and himself it has never been 
revealed. The only way about which we know anything 
is God’s way, the way of the cross, and not ours. His 
way has been made clear. 

It is the very difference and contrast between Jesus 
Christ and ourselves which is used in achieving salvation. 
As Doctor Forsyth has said, ‘He did not redeem us be- 
cause he represented us, but he represents us because 
he redeemed us.’’ This same profound thinker says, 
“Christ’s Atonement must be made the center of our moral 
life or we have none.’ Christ deals adequately with 
sin. He does not treat it as sickness, to be treated patho- 
logically, nor as misfortune to be condoned. Least of 
all does he treat it as “a blind and mistaken searching after 
the divine in us.” Could anything be more mistaken and 
irrational than such a conception of sin? There is no 
warrant in God’s Word for excusing sin. ‘They are 
without excuse” (Rom. 1:20). The Bible doctrine of 
sin is this: It is an unpardonable failure to conform to 
the truths of revelation or a deliberate and willful viola- 
tion of the law written in the heart and in the Book. It 
is missing the mark, but it is deliberately and determinedly 
missing the mark. It is failure to do the thing we know 
we ought to do. 

Modernism has watered down the Bible doctrine of 
sin and has even more diluted the Biblical doctrine of 
salvation until the destruction of each has been practically 
accomplished in their thought. Opinions, however, change 
no facts. Great principles and great doctrines are not 
determined by a show of hands. The fact of sin remains 
in all of its destructiveness and hideousness, and there. 


152 THe Firra FInAuiry or Farre 


is no place where it is so finally and fully judged as at the 
cross of Calvary. Perhaps nowhere else is greater injury 
being done in religious teaching than in removing the sin- 
fulness of sin from the thought of sinners. “Here more 
than anywhere else,” says Dean Fenn, “the weakness 
of modern Liberalism shows itself.” Sin in its true nature 
is utterly ignored in modernistic theology. “The fall of 
man, as taught in the Bible, is treated with levity or tossed 
aside as an academic question not to be taken seriously. 
It must be evident to one who reads discriminately that 
this matter of sin and sinning has much to do with the 
rejection of the supernatural. You cannot recognize sin 
as sin and at the same time be indifferent to the fact of 
retribution. You cannot run trippingly past retribution 
without running squarely into the arms of divine justice, 
both as revealed in the Bible and in conscience. 

The importance of the atonement is recognized wher- 
ever sin in its true significance is accepted as a fact. The 
denial of one always involves the denial of the other. 
Justice as an attribute of God is indelibly fixed in our 
thinking. He cannot forgive in any effective way without 
himself providing the way whereby his righteousness 
and holiness have full consideration and no violence is 
done to either. God has solved the problem permanently 
and completely. To reject that way is to be left in the 
toils of sin with all of its terrible consequences. Why 
hesitate to accept a way to eternal life which has been so 
completely provided by God? The most inexplicable thing 
possible is the disposition to reject it. Could anything be 
clearer than that the Bible teaches that the death of Christ 
did conquer both sin and death? The evident intent of 
God’s Word is to set before every man an open door to 


Gop REDEEMED 153 


spiritual liberty and an endless life of felicity. It is a 
way every man can understand and utilize to his own 
soul’s peace and abiding blessing. It is a simple and 
direct way. Redemption is one of the sublimest of rea- 
lized historic achievements. “Forasmuch as ye know that 
ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver 
and gold, from your vain conversation received by tra- 
dition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of 
Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” 
(1 Pet. 1:18, 19). “Even as the Son of man came not 
to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life 
a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:28). ‘He died for all, 
that they which live should not henceforth live unto them- 
selves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again” 
(Zorn s15); 

Are we to believe with Modernism that the death of 
Christ had nothing to do with sin but was the highest 
expression of self-sacrificing devotion? Not while we 
can engage in rational thinking. Doctor Forsyth truly 
states: “Many Modernists do not know their own lati- 
tude and longitude theologically and are determined no 
one else shall know his, and become restless and irritable 
under interrogation.” ‘The Jesus of Modernism vaguely 
thought of himself as the Son of God, but did not recog- 
nize himself as God the Son. We may easily become so 
engaged in looking upon the dial of the clock as to forget 
the works inside. We can easily be so under the domina- 
tion of the “social complex’ as to lose sight of the only 
method whereby the world may really become socialized. 
It is easy to rhapsodize over the fruits of Christianity 
while the tree that produced them is misunderstood or ig- 
nored altogether. It was because God was incarnate in 


154 THe Fiera FINALITY or FAITH 


Christ that Christ could achieve redemption. The Father 
sent; the Son came. All was voluntary and had to do 
with salvation. “God, freely making man, was equally 
free in redeeming him by becoming man. The act that 
consented to become man was a superhuman act.” Noth- 
ing could be farther from the truth than the statement 
of Professor Rauschenbusch that “His death is almost 
negligible in the work of-salvation.’”’ Precisely the oppo- 
site is true, as any unbiased reader of the New Testament 
knows. ‘Who his own self bear our sins in his own 
body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live 
unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed” (1 
Pet..2: 24). 

However Modernists are to eliminate the prophetic 
element in Isaiah 53, they will not be able to persuade 
intelligent men and women that we do not here find a 
definite portrayal of the coming of the Son of God to 
make an atoning sacrifice for the sins of men. “Surely 
he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows’ 
(v. 4). ‘He began to teach them, that the Son of man 
must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, 
and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and 
after three days rise again” (Mark 8:31). Truly “Christ 
died for our sins according to the scriptures.” This was 
the immediately fundamental doctrine of the apostolic 
Church. It has been the chief article of the faith of the 
church through the centuries. When the church loses that 
truth she has lost her life. The Incarnation was the 
incarnation of God and not of man. Never more than 
today has the cross been the “power of God unto salva- 
tion.” This is the key that unlocks the prison doors and 
sets the sinner free. Here, and here alone, we find the 


Gop REDEEMED D5 


liberty wherewith Christ makes free. This is the truth 
that has lifted millions and still more millions from the 
slime pit to the summits of life and light. It is implicit 
trust in a redeeming Christ that changes the incline of 
life from down to up, and sets in action divine forces in 
the soul that bless and beautify. 


$2. Regeneration 


The fact that Jesus Christ suffered vicariously for the 
sins of the world does not mean that every individual 
of the human race is thereby saved. Jesus is “the Lamb 
of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 
1:29). It is indisputable that, through heredity, man 
became involved as a race in the first transgression. While 
the death of Jesus Christ can in no wise change the fact 
of the hereditary influence of sin, it completely takes care 
of everything in the nature of guilt which might be con- 
nected with ancestral transgression. Christ’s death on 
the cross became at once the basis of the forgiveness of 
sins. Adequate provision was made whereby every in- 
dividual, accepting the offer of God’s mercy in Christ his 
Son, might be forever sure that fellowship with God was 
completely re-established. The death of Christ effected 
a true restoration of happy relationships between the 
believer and the eternal Father. “In whom we have 
redemption through his blood, and forgiveness of sins, 
according to the riches of his grace” (Eph. 1:7). It is. 
the purpose, plan, and desire of God that every individual 
soul should be saved. It is not the will of God that any 
should perish but that all should come to a knowledge of 
God and eternal life. As man was created by God, he 
is also re-created through the regenerating work of the 


156 THe Firra FINAuItTY or Faire 


Holy Spirit. ‘That which is born of the flesh is flesh; 
and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3: 
6). There is no imperative in all the utterances of Jesus 
more final than “Ye must be born again” (John 3:7). 
An experience is made possible with God through the 
vicarious sacrifice of Jesus Christ. There is nothing else 
that can bring us into vital relationship with God except 
the appropriation of the riches of his love expressed in 
his vicarious Atonement. ‘Christ our passover is sacri- 
ficed for us” (1 Cor. 5:7). 

Certain definite acts on the part of man are essential 
before he is benefited by Christ’s death to the extent of 
salvation. The first essential on the human side is re- 
pentance. In the story of the Pharisee and the publican 
we have presented the attitude of mind acceptable to God. 
The exhortation of Peter on the day of Pentecost was 
“Repent.” John the Baptist preached repentance as a 
condition to the remission of sins. Immediately when 
Jesus Christ engaged in his ministry of teaching, he called 
on men to repent. The sacrificial work of Jesus Christ 
is never effected while pride reigns and rules. No man 
can enter the kingdom of God except with bowed head. 
This is the very thing the heart rebels against. No con- 
trast could be greater than, that which is expressed in the 
words “Self-repair’ and “Regeneration.” One recog- 
nizes that if salvation is effective for a sinning soul it 
will be from the God-ward side; the other assumes no 
necessity of divine intervention. The beginning of the 
new life is inaugurated the very moment man is truly 
repentant for his transgressions and accepts Christ as 
Saviour. 


Gop REDEEMED 157 


As a feature of repentance we have sorrow, a pro- 
found regret for our disobedience, but in addition to 
that there is a determination to enter upon a life of obedi- 
ence. Whatever is contrary to the holiness and will of 
God must be avoided. ‘Let the wicked forsake his way, 
and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return 
unto the Lord” (Isa. 55:7). Another feature of repent- 
ance is confession. The prodigal said, “I have sinned 
against heaven.”” The abandonment of practices that 
violate our sense of right and disregard God’s law is not 
sufficient. It is necessary also that with a whole heart we 
turn to God. “To open their eyes, and to turn them from 
darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto 
God” (Acts 26:18). This repentance is brought about 
through a discovery of the disastrous consequences of 
sin, and more especially through a study of God’s Word. 
The results of true repentance and acceptance of Christ 
are immediate. The chief of these results is a conscious- 
ness of forgiveness. ‘Repent ye therefore, and be con- 
verted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times 
of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord” 
(Acts 3:19). 

The redemption effected by Jesus Christ is appropri- 
ated by faith. The importance of faith cannot be over- 
estimated, but the object of faith is the all-determining 
thing. The entire human personality is involved in faith: 
intellect, sensibility, and will. It is the whole personality 
recognizing and accepting Christ as Saviour. So impor- 
tant is this act of faith that we read, “He did not many 
mighty works there because of their unbelief’’ (Matt. 
13:58). Over and over again Jesus attributed to un- 
belief the impotency of his disciples in the presence of a 


158 Tue Firra FINAvITY oF Fara 


crisis. A saving faith accepts Christ as being precisely 
what the Gospels claim him to be and what he himself 
declares he is. While this faith is itself the gift of God, 
any individual may fulfill the conditions of receiving it. 
To exercise the faith we have is the one condition of a 
larger faith. From beginning to end the human side of 
salvation is faith in an almighty Saviour. It is through 
faith we are accepted. It is through faith we are justified. 
It is through faith we move on toward perfection. It is 
through faith we are kept in the way of life. 

Repentance and the exercise of faith are simultaneous 
with regeneration. It is quite possible to exercise a cer- 
tain kind of faith which does not bring us into such 
fellowship with Christ as will insure the regenerating 
work of the Holy Ghost. Regeneration is distinctly 
supernatural and cannot be put on the plane of natural 
phenomenon. It is called in the New Testament a new 
birth. “Old things are passed away; behold, all things 
are become new” (2 Cor. 5:17.) It means the entrance 
of a Life that is great enough to overcome death. Re- 
generation is a re-creating process, a revitalization of the 
soul, changing the individual’s attitude toward almost 
everything with which he has to do. Through regener- 
ation the life in Jesus Christ is actually communicated to 
man. 

The use of the word “blood” in connection with salva- 
tion represents not alone the outpoured life of Christ but 
the imparted life of Christ. It is because the life is in the 
blood that the term is thus employed. It is the strongest 
expression that can be used to indicate both the sacrifice 
and the impartation of the vital forces of God in regen- 
eration. Through this regeneration Christly qualities and 


Gop REDEEMED 159 


characteristics are imparted to the soul. It thus appears 
as Dr. Newton N. Riddell states in his book, ‘‘Vital 
Christianity,” that “as Christ voluntarily substituted him- 
self on the cross for man’s sin, so when man accepts the 
gift and involuntarily crucifies the old nature daily, Christ 
substitutes himself, his spirit, life, and nature with all 
his forces and attributes in man for the old sinful nature. 
This is the goal of vital atonement, Christ manifesting 
himself in man by the Spirit, literally becoming the Great 
Physician to spirit, soul, and body; the resurrection and 
the life to all who believe and receive him.’”’ It is one 
thing to know about the atoning work of Christ, and even 
to believe it is true. It is quite another thing to expe- 
rience it through self-surrender to God. It is belief of the 
heart which brings to us the consciousness of the saving 
work of Christ. Nothing in Scripture is more explicitly 
declared than the necessity of the new birth. To deny 
that necessity or to make any substitutes for it simply 
means that the testimony of Scripture is to be ignored and 
abandoned. The regenerated soul is declared to be “born 
not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will 
of man, but of God” (John 1:13). 

The Holy Spirit is the agent of regeneration. The 
righteousness of Jesus Christ is imputed to the regenerated 
personality, and so God’s favor is assured. Christ is 
the end of the law for righteousness to all who believe. 
Thus we become children of God in an entirely new 
sense. It is quite usual today to speak of every human 
being asa child of God. ‘There is a sense in which this is 
true. To be race-born is one thing. To be grace-born is 
quite another. We are sons of God in a very different 
sense when we have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit. 


160 THe Fiera FINAuItTy or Faire 


“A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will 
I put within you” (Ezek. 36:26). Here then we have the 
essence of redemptive truth as revealed to us in the Word 
of God. 

With such a redemptive message, how is it possible to ° 
explain the limited number of conversions which the 
Church of Christ is able to report year by year? One 
would think such a glad Gospel message with its guaran- 
tees of eternal life, peace, and happiness of soul would 
be seized upon with the greatest eagerness. Could any- 
thing be more appealing, more sublime, than the Gospel 
of grace? Why do not people by thousands flock to the 
standards of the Cross? It is even more mystifying that 
intelligent men should repudiate and reject the gift of 
salvation so freely offered by God, and resort to theory, 
guess-work, speculation, and all sorts of expedients to 
meet the soul’s need rather than appropriate the redemp- 
tion fully accredited historically and tested out in the 
experience of millions to their satisfaction. Of course, 
one who does not believe in the deity of Christ or in the 
sinfulness of man has no message to offer to a really 
guilty soul that is worth considering. Moreover, a half- 
hearted believer who is not sure of his own salvation has 
no message that will convince or convict. You could not 
conceive of any important results in the way of religious 
expression resulting from the preaching of a man who 
deals only in platitudes and merely ethical ideas. There is 
a still further reason. Those of us who know from ex- 
perience that Jesus saves to the uttermost have not as 
large a confidence as we should have in the effectiveness 
of a proclamation of Gospel truth. We are timid, hesi- 
tant, and afraid to apply the tests, How few ministers 


Gop REDEEMED 161 


who are in reality evangelical ever dare call for any public 
expression upon the part of unbelievers! A larger spirit 
of venture and a greater belief in the work of the Holy 
Spirit in the heart will lead us to call for a definite commit- 
ment to God. Results are proportionate to our faith. This 
is one of the great needs in the evangelical churches to- 
day. 


§3. The Socialization of Christianity 


Instead of a true redemptive message it is the fashion 
today in many theological seminaries and pulpits to teach 
the socialization of Christianity. Christianity is identi- 
fied with democracy. <A social gospel is presented as the 
ideal message to a distraught world. It is not pretended 
that such a gospel can deal with sin, hence sin as such is 
ignored or denied. The personal nature of Christianity 
is exchanged for what is called “socialized religion,” 
meaning that men are to be dealt with in mass rather than 
individually. 

The laws of nature and the laws of God operate in an 
individualistic method. Fertilization as applied to fruits 
or flowers or anything where there is reproduction is al- 
ways individualistic. ‘This wholesale conception of Mod- 
ernism offers no rational, logical, or historic basis. Suc- 
cesses have never yet been attained in this manner. It 
is assumed that it has been reserved to the men of our 
day to discover a wiser and better way than that pre- 
sented by Jesus and his apostles and the leaders of the 
Church through centuries of Christian advancement. 
This is not only assumption, it is presumption. Modern 
teachers who advocate this departure have given to the 
world no slightest evidence of superior intellectual or 

11 


162 THe Firra Finauity or Faira 


moral power. Not one of them, for example, is in a class 
with Athanasius, who by virtue of his incomparable in- 
tellectual energy withstood every apostate teacher of his 
day and determined for centuries the channel in which the 
current of Christianity should flow. Yet it has remained 
to the present generation of intellectual giants (?) to dis- 
cover that Jesus was often mistaken, that he was merely 
the child of his day, that he was entirely incompetent to 
deal with truth in its application to successive generations 
and especially to the wonderfully enlightened period in 
which we are living. 

The Gospel of Christ as presented to us in the Sacred 
Record is a social gospel in the noblest sense of the word. 
When properly applied it brings about a true fellowship 
among all those who embrace it. This it accomplishes by 
inculcating the Spirit of Jesus. The regenerated soul 
has a new perspective, a new ideal of social life, and par- 
ticularly a new sense of brotherhood. Christianity leads 
to a new acceptance of personal responsibility for our 
fellow men. This kind of socialization all Christians seek 
to teach and cultivate. It is the only way whereby the 
higher social ideals would ever become current. Chris- 
tianity is personal and individualistic from the very nature 
of things, and can no more be changed from that than you 
can change the laws of gravity by artificial applications 
of power. That you can never change communities or 
nations except as you change the individual units is as 
fixed a law as any law of life. 

The modern idea of socialization, however, is some- 
thing altogether different. ‘Social service’’ is the motto 
of the Modernist. He rings all the changes upon these 
words until they lose much of their value. Be it re- 


Gop REDEEMED 163 


membered, this is in no sense “Christian service.” ‘To 
accomplish his purpose the Modernist resorts not to the 
Gospel of regeneration but to “religious education.” He 
does not by this mean Christian education. Whoever 
hears anything about Christian education in the programs 
of “The Religious Education Association”? Certainly 
not. This is not the controlling idea. “Religious educa- 
tion’”’ is substituted for regeneration and then for Chris- 
tian education. It may be and often is wholly pagan, 
receiving upon the same platform with equal right and 
recognition Buddhism, Confucianism, Zoroastrianism, 
Unitarianism, and other religions. All these are accepted 
as worthy of a place of distinction and honor with Chris- 
tianity. Indeed, the evidence is clear that one of the very 
purposes of leaders of this movement is to break down the 
distinctions and destroy the differences between Chris- 
tianity and paganism. Christian education recognizes 
the validity of the religious intuitions. It recognizes the 
finality of the teachings of Jesus Christ and urges that 
these be inculcated in the minds of both children and 
adults. Christian education advocates that truth is eternal 
and that God has revealed that truth with a finality of 
authority not to be questioned. “Religious education’ 
does not accept the Bible with any degree of finality. 
Such men as Youtz of Oberlin, and Coe of Union, and 
Hodgkin, all active in the “religious education realm,” 
urge that children be not taught what to believe. This 
would mean that they are to be brought up as pagans. 
One liberal writer, let it be said to his credit, seeing the 
utter folly and stupidity of all this talk, says, “Neglect 
of religious education in order not to bias a growing 
mind is usually laziness camouflaged as liberalism.” Eyven 


164 THe Firra FINALITY oF Faire 


Professor Rauschenbusch, Liberal as he was, vigorously 
protested this kind of so-called “religious education.” All 
of these men, having identified religion with democracy 
and social development, leave out the very essence of 
revealed truth. Dr. William Irvin Lawrance openly pro- 
claims that the whole purpose of “religious education” is 
“to socialize our pupils.” The Religious Education Asso- 
ciation is sold absolutely to “religious education” as dis- 
tinct from Christian education, notwithstanding the un- 
doubted trend of “religious education” toward socialism. 
The “religious education” movement is by no means in 
the hands of evangelicals. It has no distinctive religious 
message to give which could be called Christian. None 
whatsoever. Christian education is a totally different 
thing. It recognizes established truths that are thoroughly 
accredited by logic, time, and experience. 

Prof. Henry W. Holmes describes “religious educa- 
tion” as an effort to establish religion as an educating and 
creating force in social evolution. ‘Religious education” 
has a great deal to do and say about social democracy and 
religious democracy. The democratization of the Church, 
Christianity, Jesus Christ, and God himself is unblushing- 
ly advocated. Professor Rauschenbusch says, ‘“The worst 
thing that could happen to God would be to remain an 
autocrat while the world is moving toward democracy.” 
How long has it been and by what right may men seek 
to destroy divine Sovereignty? Pres. Arthur C. McGiffert 
says: “Democracy demands a God with whom men may 
co-operate, not to whom they must submit.” Such a 
statement deserves no consideration whatsoever, for a 
God to whom men need not submit is no God at all but 
an empty and meaningless name. Dr. Henry F. Cope 


Gop REDEEMED 165 


of the Religious Education Association, in his book, 
“Education for Democracy,” writes: ‘Religion is gradu- 
ally emerging from the idea of a Dictator Deity to the 
leadership of a splendid Brother in the great human 
family.” Prof. Gerald Birney Smith says: ‘A religious 
democracy does not accept beliefs or practices imposed 
from above.’ And the end is not yet. Even the idea of 
Fatherhood is objected to as applied to God by not a few 
liberal leaders, and the doctrine of divine immanency is 
advocated, which absolutely impersonalizes God. <A 
democratized God has no more value to the human race 
than a totem pole. Logically, all this means the entire 
abandonment of worship. What wonder that men enter- 
taining such views of God and religion should regard 
regeneration as a mere dogma and the deity of Christ as a 
myth? They are “blind leaders of the blind.” 

In the thought of Modernists and Liberalists of this 
type, the church is by no means an essential. If they 
could have their way, they plainly say they would bring 
religion under control of the state, which would mean 
that ultimately it would be abolished altogether. Dr. 
Horsch in his book, ‘Modern Religious Liberalism,” 
writes: “It should be observed, if God is democratized 
and there is no religion but democracy, that the existence 
of a particular organization is uncalled for, in fact, pre- 
cluded.” As a revelation of how far Christianity, which 
has been at the heart of the world’s progress for nineteen 
hundred years, is to be abandoned Dr. McGiffert declares: 
“Democracy demands the abandonment of this traditional 
notion of religion and the recognition of it as a com- 
munal affair, having to do with the salvation of the 
community, that is, in ordinary language, with the es- 


166 Tue Firre FINAuity or Farr. 


tablishment of true liberty and human brotherhood.” In 
that case, of course, the thought of divine Sovereignty 
and the Lordship of Jesus must be abandoned completely. 
In the case of all of these liberal teachers the Bible is 
rejected to the extent that it is not regarded as the source 
of any supernatural religious truth. Nothing final and 
fully authoritative can be taught by these men. ‘This 
leads very naturally to Prof. George A. Coe’s position 
that “instruction must be emptied of its traditional impli- 
cations of telling people what to believe.” Most certainly, 
since the teacher himself does not know what to believe 
and has no final truth to present. 

Liberalists, even to the extreme radicals, are a constitu- 
ent part of the Board of Religious Education. According 
to Dr. Henry F. Cope, it is the intention of the Religious 
Education Association to welcome to its platform and 
with equal rights the advocates of all kinds of religious 
faiths, Christian and pagan, and to teach that not by any 
supernatural means but by ordinary educational processes 
human personality is to be developed. Plainly such an 
objective is in no sense Christian. Evangelicals have 
always been tremendously interested in intellectual devel- 
opment. Whatever would increase mentality, whatever 
could add to personal capability, has always been en- 
couraged and assisted by evangelicals; but they have not 
lost their balance. They have never become top-heavy and 
intellectually bigoted. They have recognized that true 
education means the unfolding of all the powers of per- 
sonality, and that the heart as well as the head needs 
development. It has always been clear to keen observers 
that the world’s greatest Teacher has been, and is, Jesus 
Christ. The Holy Spirit as an educative force and factor 


Gop REDEEMED 167 


cannot be overestimated. No man living has anything 
like a balanced or complete education who has not sat at 
the feet of the Author of the Sermon on the Mount or 
who has been oblivious to the instructions of “the still, 
small voice.” From the standpoint of mentality alone no 
class of men today are the peers of those who have studied 
in the “school of Christ.” The world’s leadership in all 
lines of human progress attests to the truth of this state- 
ment. 

Modern “religious education” fails to accomplish what 
an educational association should accomplish from the 
very fact that it has no message on the subject where a 
message is supremely important. It has no voice of as- 
surance for the soul. It cannot speak positively and 
unequivocally of origin, duty, destiny, and immortality, 
because it has no “sure word of prophecy.” The best it 
can do, therefore, is to ring the changes on socialized re- 
ligion, but the sad part of it is that the very thing it claims 
to be seeking it is incompetent to accomplish. It simply 
does not socialize society. What could be more potent 
in this connection than the word of Prof. Herbert A. 
Youtz: “Excessive emphasis on practical methods often 
conceals spiritual deadness”? Here is the fatal weakness 
of much “religious education.” Evangelicals with their 
program of Christian education stand at an altitude as far 
above that indicated in the program of “religious educa- 
tion” as Mt. Everest is above its own foothills. Christian 
education embraces every truly amplifying and educating 
feature that is in so-called ‘‘religious education,” but it 
has in addition to all this a great Christian objective. Its 
ideal is to prepare the individual for the largest possible 
service, not alone for time, but for eternity as well. 


168 Tae Firrp FINAuLITY oF FAITs 


The moral influence of the educational ideals of Mod- 
ernism are best attested in the general ethical conditions 
of today. Doctor Horsch tells us that the autobiography 
of Moncure D. Conway points out that modern science 
has discredited faith in the supernatural but has failed 
to furnish a sufficient ethical, let alone religious, guide. 
He quotes his friend Prof. Goldwin Smith as foreseeing 
“Fatal results in the next generation unless science can 
construct something to take the place of the failing re- 
ligious conscience.” This author also mentions the well- 
known fact that Herbert Spencer in his later years 
deplored the regrettable moral result of modern science. 
Says Bertrand Russell on this same point: “Purposeless 
and void of meaning is the world that science presents 
for our belief. That man is the product of causes that 
have no prevision of the end they are achieving; that 
his origin, his growth, his hopes and fears, his loves, and 
his beliefs are but the outcome of accidental collocations 
of atoms (in other words, the result of blind force) ; 
that nothing can preserve an individual life beyond the 
grave; that all the labors of the ages, all the devotion, 
all the inspiration, all the noonday brightness of modern 
genius are destined to extinction in the vast death of the 
solar system; and that the whole temple of man’s achieve- 
ment must inevitably be buried beneath the debris of a 
universe in ruins,—all these things are held practically 
beyond dispute by modern naturalistic science.” 

This, then, is what we are asked to accept in place of 
the bright light of revelation, with its rational, its 
natural, and assuring interpretations of the divine Source 
of human life. This would be to give up sanity for 
insanity, hope for despair, bread for a diet of ashes, and 


Gop REDEEMED 169 


the crystal waters of life for mud. What wonder that 
moral decline results when the Christian faith is thrown 
into the discard with its moral law, its appeal to con- 
science, its mandates commended by reason; for the 
substitution of the doctrine of irresponsibility, which 
makes man a victim and never a victor, which makes him 
a helpless puppet instead of a splendid self-determining 
creation of God, which teaches that no action of the 
human will can change the course and current of a life 
moving steadily along the serpentine course unconscious 
nature has carved, leading ultimately to extinction. Let 
us have none of it. Let us wear the royal purple of 
regal distinction, and not clothe ourselves in the rags of 
unsupported opinion. 

Modernism, by its insistence on “nothing above the 
natural order,” aligns itself whether it wills to do so or 
not with the death trend, following spiritual deterioration 
and decay. It is passing strange that so many religious 
teachers seem blind to the inevitable consequences of the 
rejection of the one and only infallible guide to truth and 
life that has never yet failed to intensify the moral sensi- 
bilities, to re-enforce volitional power, and to unfold the 
individual life toward beauty, God, and goodness. If 
any truth has been clearly taught during the past nineteen 
hundred years of the world’s history, it is this: That 
nations and communities are elevated morally, made vir- 
tuous and progressive, by the faithful preaching and teach- 
ing that God’s Word is the one safe guide to virtue and 
honor, and that a violation of divine command will be 
attended with degeneracy and disaster. The history of 
Christianity presents no exceptions whatsoever to the fact 
that low views of Biblical inspiration are attended with 


170 THe Firra Finauity or Fira 


low views of morality and low ideals of life in general. 
Strikingly true is it that a hearty acceptance of the Christ 
of the Gospels as the world’s one and only demonstration 
of perfection, and the results of implicit obedience to 
the Father’s will, produce character of superlative range. 

All the graces thrive and unfold in the light of the 
revelation of God in Christ. Here and here only an at- 
mosphere is furnished where the higher moralities enjoy 
tropical luxuriance. There is no safety for society, for 
the home, for the Church, or for the State where nature 
alone is made the guide of life. Nature as interpreted and 
represented in the revelation of the God of nature speaks 
the highest words of wisdom to the souls of men. ‘The 
voice of science in matters of the soul’s origin and 
destiny is too husky and sepulchral to be intelligible be- 
cause it speaks in a realm where science can only speculate 
and guess. The influence of materialistic Modernism on 
the home must be apparent to anyone whose eyes are not 
totally closed. Wherever moral standards are lowered, 
men and women follow the lower nature and allow their 
ideals to be despised,—then look out for a multiplication 
of divorces. It has been the fashion during recent years 
to make a travesty of marriage. The stage has con- 
stantly portrayed the marriage bond as nothing but a 
piece of paper, to be made light of, and above all things 
not to be regarded as of divine sanction. Immorality is 
presented in its most attractive dress and even applauded 
on the stage, while modesty is dubbed prudery. It is 
regarded as a great compliment to be called “a good sport” 
at the expense of every virtue. Humor arouses the 
languid interest of the acclaimers of “personal liberty” 
only when it becomes coarse and vulgar. 


Gop REDEEMED 171 


A cry of protest is heard whenever the indecencies 
of the “movies” call out a determined effort at more 
careful supervision. The public dance of today is utterly 
shameless, and manifests contempt for conventionalities 
of any and every sort. The manager of one of the larg- 
est and most popular hotels in Massachusetts personally 
told me that on the occasion of many of the college 
dances he is obliged to employ an extra force of men 
and women to guard against conduct that would outrage 
every sense of propriety. He furthermore said, “Re- 
member, this does not pertain to the riffraff of society 
but to what is called in the wealthy social circles ‘high 
society.’ ’”’ All of this can be traced to the idea that Bible 
morality is not mandatory, and that there is really no 
standard of right and wrong to which anyone need feel 
bound to give heed. ‘“‘Self-expression” is the attractive 
term employed to excuse every form of self-indulgence. 
The main thing in the mind is to have a good time today, 
and never raise the question of penalties tomorrow. 

The “one world at a time” slogan is openly pro- 
claimed by many modern religious teachers, with the 
result of dismissing entirely any thought of the conse- 
quences of immoral conduct. The man whose life is not 
ordered with eternity in view will be found steadily drift- 
ing down in his ideals and practices, while his response to 
the appeal of every natural appetite will increase. Human 
nature is not likely to make its ascent against the strong, 
downward pull without guidance and severe discipline. 
Vice and crime abound wherever the educated and the 
cultivated members of society disregard the moral law 
expressed in the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on 
the Mount. Whenever a voice is raised in protest against 


172 Tye Firrae FINALITY or FAITa 


the practices that are right now endangering society, there 
is a wild cry of “Puritanism!” “Blue Laws!” Rabbi Wise 
came in for his share of sarcastic criticism when he said: 
“Tf one were to enter a New York ballroom after a ten 
years’ absence, he would be struck dumb with disgust and 
astonishment at the degeneration which has come to pass 
within a little time.’ Dr. John Haynes Holmes, who 
surely cannot be accused of either orthodoxy or prudery, 
said: “Dancing today even among our so-called ‘best 
people’ is indecent. Nowhere in our social life today is 
there such evidence of degeneracy as on the dance 
floor. The music is barbaric, the dressing immodest, and 
the dances brutally sexual.” 

All this calls for explanation. The orgies of night 
clubs that have hitherto succeeded in avoiding police 
supervision lead to “Pickwick Club” disasters, increase 
daring robberies, and multiply cold-blooded murders, 
while criminals easily escape. All these things must have 
a reason. When religion is identified with mere ethics, 
the result is an increase in immorality. Christianity is 
vastly more than ethics. No amount of ethical culture 
will accomplish what pure and unadulterated Christianity 
will accomplish. Christian morality has a legitimate 
ethical basis. Naturalism has not. Morality that is the 
outcome of custom is readily repudiated. Not so when 
the Christian standards are accepted as authoritative. 

Can anyone doubt what must be done? We must hark 
back to the Law and to the Testimony. We must return 
to God’s Word as God’s Word. We must get back to 
Christ—the Christ of the Mount, the Cross, the Resurrec- 
tion, the Intercession, the Return, and the Day of Judg- 
ment. Nothing else will change conditions. The mere 


Gop REDEEMED 173 


moralization of religion makes no appeal and speaks with 
no power. A liberalizing Christianity has in it no virility, 
no masterful voice of command, no control of the human 
passions, and absolutely no true ethic. The tree must 
always be known by its fruit. The fruit of Christianity 
as the outgrowth of the glorious Gospel of the blessed 
God has always been ‘“‘love, joy, peace, longsuffering, 
gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: 
against such there is no law” (Gal, 5:22, 23). 


VI 


THE SIXTH FINALITY OF FAITH 
GOD IS HERE 


$1. God a Pervading Presence 


OTHING is more vitally important than to know 
that God in his wisdom, power, and holiness is 
actively engaged in our behalf. We must know 

he hears our prayers and eagerly responds to the call of 
his children. To have any real enjoyment in the Chris- 
tian life we must be able to talk with God as confidently 
as we would talk with our dearest friend. Huis presence, 
if not fully and consciously realized, should be assumed, 
until our sense of his presence becomes complete and satis- 
fying. A true spiritual vision of God will be vouchsafed 
to anyone who with continuous persistence seeks to 
know him. “Ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye 
shall search for me with all your heart” (Jer. 29:13). 
He is not a God who hideth himself. Everything in 
nature and revelation indicates that God is more eager 
to be found than any child of his is to find him. When 
he is known in his real nature he will be loved and 
obeyed. No fact is more cheering than the fact of the 
presence of God. A recognition of it exercises whole- 
some restraint and in turn arouses the deepest zest in 
living. No one ever asks the question, “Is life worth 
living?’ who has come to a full knowledge of God. An 
174 


Gop 18 HERE 175 


absent Deity can contribute nothing, either to our com- 
fort or to our power. 

Nature herself is a continuous declaration that God 
is here. He sustains all things by the word of his power. 
It is the continuous outgoing of God’s power that keeps 
the stars in their courses, causes the seasons to succeed 
each other, and covers the world with beauty and bounty. 
_ Particularly is it true that life in all its forms is an un- 
remitting declaration, “God is here.” Tennyson’s “Flower 
in the Crannied Wall’ awakened in the poet a sense of 
the divine presence which he in turn has contributed to the 
thousands who have followed his poetic inspiration. 
There is no leaf waving like a banner upon a tree that is 
not declaring the glory of a present God. We attribute 
too much to law. Law is a method and not a force. As 
force is not self-created, so also is it not self-expressed. 
It is a good deal more than poetry that speaks of the angel- 
painted lily. It is an intimation that from some super- 
natural source the beauty of the world comes. It would 
be literally true were we to say that it is a God-painted 
lily. From the tiniest germ of life in the vegetable world 
to the great California sequoia, God is ever declaring 
himself present, communicating his own power. 

Still more explicitly and definitely is the presence of 
God proclaimed in human life. Our own mental activity 
is not self-originated. It is generated by a power not 
ourown. The doctrine of Immanency is a very important 
one. “In him we live, and move, and have our being” 
(Acts 17:28). Though God is above all, he never loses 
interest in any child of humanity. The most violently 
wicked man who has ever lived will, if he repents, discover 
that God has been providentially working to bring about 


176 THe SixtH FINAvuiry or Farrn 


his repentance, and contribute to him the gift of life 
eternal. To be sure, this nearness of God is not accepted 
or received by people who have turned their backs upon 
him. ‘This does not remove the fact that as the apostle 
says, ‘““He is not far from every one of us” (Acts 17: 
27). God is here to become a beatitude to any and every 
soul that will respond to his love. He is here to bless 
and not to curse. He is here to sustain and not to de- 
stroy. He is here to lové and not to hate. He is here 
to support and not to impoverish. “O the depth of the 
riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!” (Rom. 
11:'335,1) 

This doctrine of the divine presence is most emphati- 
cally taught in Holy Scriptures. “I am with thee’’ is 
Scripture’s emphatic declaration. “I will uphold thee 
with the right hand of my righteousness” (Isa. 41:10). 
“The Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou 
goest” (Josh. 1:9). All such Scriptures merely empha- 
size that on the Godward side the disposition and desire 
is to contribute blessing, and that none of the vicissitudes 
of time shall interfere with the fact that God is never 
distant from any man. “This is life eternal, that they 
might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, 
whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3). “He is near that 
justifieth me” (Isa. 50:8). To practice God’s presence 
is the most wholesome, helpful, and spiritually uplifting 
of human experiences and activities, 

There is nothing that aids us more in developing a 
consciousness of the nearness of God than the practice 
of prayer. Prayer definitely addressed to God just as 
though he could be seen, as though you could reach out 
your hand and touch him, makes vivid the reality of his 


Gop 18 HERE ATL 


presence and love. Were we to talk less about God and 
more fo him our Christian lives would be much richer and 
stronger than they are. A habitual study of the Bible 
does vastly more than to convince us it was given to us 
under inspiration, and is a safe guide to life. It opens our 
eyes spiritually to see the infinite God himself. It is a 
great aid to spiritual growth when through the imagi- 
nation we are able to visualize God and address ourselves 
confidently to him. Bible study helps us to do this 
thing. 

In his book, ‘The Final Faith,” Pres. W. Douglas 
MacKenzie says, “The Bible is then the permanent in- 
strument of the Spirit of God. Wherever it goes the 
fruit of the Spirit begins to appear among men. Its pages 
still glow with a personal appeal which comes from the 
throne of the universe. God has made it most truly 
and powerfully his Word in which, a second time, as it 
were, he is incarnate, for the apprehension and obedience 
of mankind . . . Christianity fundamentally con- 
sists in a revelation of God. This revelation, far from be- 
ing the achievement of eager human souls who have 
discovered him passive and remote and impersonal, was 
made on the plains of human history in words and deeds 
and persons by the direct and specific action of God.” 


§ 2. God is Here in the Holy Spirit 


When Jesus took his departure one of his last and 
most precious promises was that the Holy Spirit would 
come as a living and empowering presence to regenerate, 
comfort, and bless. “It is expedient for you that I go 
away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not 
come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto 

12 


178 Tue SixtH FINALITY oF FAITH 


you” (John 16:7). The Holy Spirit is the Third Person 
in the blessed Trinity. We dishonor him when we speak 
of him as impersonal. Our age is the age of the Holy 
Spirit. We are under what might be termed the dispen- 
_ sation of the Holy Ghost. It is remarkable that there 
should be any necessity of emphasizing the personality of 
the Spirit of God. Christianity, however, has never 
altogether lost the effects of Arianism, and always has 
to combat Socinianism and Unitarianism. When Jesus 
Christ said, in John 14:16, 17, “And I will pray the 
Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that 
he may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth; 
whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, 
neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth 
with you, and shall be in you,” he used the personal 
pronoun. 

Our use of the terms, God the Father, and God the Son, 
emphasizes the personality both of Father and Son. It 
is not so easy, however, to appreciate the personality of 
the Spirit on account of the mystical nature of his work- 
ing. When Jesus said, “The wind bloweth where it 
listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not 
tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth’ (John 3:8), 
our instinctive thought is of an impersonal influence rather 
than of a personal activity. In various metaphors which 
are used like, “the breath of the Spirit,” “the wind of the 
Spirit,” or terms like “oil,” and “fire,” the suggestion is 
not directly that of personality. Once more we cannot 
so readily apply personality to the things accomplished 
by the Spirit. 

Yet in spite of all this the Bible makes it clear that the 
Holy Spirit is a Person on an equality with the Father 


Gop 18 HERE 179 


and the Son. Baptism was to be into the name of the 
Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. He is called 
“the Spirit of truth.” ‘When he, the Spirit of truth, is 
come, he will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13). 
The benediction as employed by Paul includes the Holy 
. Spirit as one of the three Persons constituting the God- 
head. In connection with the term “anointed,” the per- 
sonality of the Spirit appears. ‘‘How God anointed Jesus 
of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power’’ (Acts 
10:38). It is perfectly clear that personality must be 
predicated of the Holy Ghost when we associate with 
him wisdom, and will, and mind. Furthermore, he speaks, 
which you can associate with nothing but personality. 
“The Spirit . . . maketh intercession’ (Rom. 8: 
26). Were he not a Person he could not be grieved. 
“Grieve not the holy Spirit” (Eph. 4:30). He is called 
the Holy Spirit because He is the embodiment of absolute 
moral and spiritual perfection, and creates the same in 
other people. He is called the Spirit of Truth, the Spirit 
of Life, the Spirit of Wisdom, the Spirit of Promise, the 
Spirit of God, the Comforter, the Spirit of Power. He 
is represented as acting upon the minds of men to create 
a sense of guilt, and incline the soul to God. It was 
promised that he should testify of Jesus Christ. ‘And 
when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and 
of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they 
believe not on me” (John 16:8, 9). 

Jesus said, “He shall testify of me” (John 15:26). 
The supreme work of the Holy Spirit is to so witness of 
Christ that a sinful and sinning world will be compelled 
to reckon with the fact of Christ as Saviour. That he is 
the author of the new life in man is made evident re- 


180 THe StxtH FINAuITY oF Faire 


peatedly. We have such Scriptures as “born of the 
Spirit,” “the renewing of the Holy Ghost,” “It is the 
spirit that quickeneth” (John 6:63). He is the ever- 
present power in the heart of the believer. “Your body 
is the temple of the Holy Ghost” (1 Cor. 6:19). He is 
the giver of liberty. ‘The law of the Spirit of life in 
Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and 
death” (Rom. 8:2). -Even Jesus Christ himself is de- 
clared to be “‘conceived by the Holy Spirit.” It was the 
Holy Spirit who anointed him for his service. He was 
raised by the power of the Spirit. 

God then is here in the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit 
never works separately from Jesus Christ, but always in 
bearing witness for him, and making application of his 
atonement to the souls of men. We must understand that 
the continuous presence of the Holy Spirit is a fact in 
order to understand the reality of inspiration. ‘The 
prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but 
holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy 
Ghost” (2 Pet. 1:21). At every moment of the Chris- 
tian’s life there is distinct and definite effort on the part 
of the Holy Spirit to impart divine love, will, and wis- 
dom, and to make known to man the purposes of God in 
his behalf. In the history of Christianity the first great 
manifestation of the Spirit was at Pentecost. Every 
great revival since Pentecost has been a witness to the 
presence and power of the Holy Spirit. Growth in the 
Christian life is accomplished through the gifts of the 
Holy Spirit of love, power, cheer, and inspiration. It 
is to the Holy Spirit we look with confidence for our 
victory in the never ending struggle between right and 
wrong in the individual life. 


Gop 1s HERE 181 
§ 3. God is Here in Jesus Christ 


There is a great deal of misapprehension respecting the 
relation of Jesus Christ to his followers in daily life and 
experience. Grateful and gladdening as is the truth of 
God’s presence in nature and in man, satisfying as it may 
seem to be that the Holy Spirit is a continuous presence 
of God, illuminating life, empowering life, ennobling 
life, it is yet true we simply cannot get along without a 
knowledge of the actual presence of Jesus Christ himself. 
Through the incarnation of God in Christ, we have a 
sense of fellowship with Jesus that does not obtain in the 
same degree with the Father and the Holy Spirit. While 
he is our Saviour, he is called our Elder Brother. There 
is a nearness of approach to him from the very fact that 
he lived among men on terms of intimacy and sustained 
reciprocal relations with mankind. The story of his 
mingling among the people of his day, healing their sick- 
nesses, comforting them in their sadness, shedding tears at 
the grave,—all these things draw us near to him. 

When Jesus said, “It is expedient for you that I go 
away” (John 16:7), we are not to understand that that 
was to mean an absent Christ. He had reference then to 
his physical presence. As embodied in flesh he was no 
longer to be with them. When on the brow of Olivet he 
bade farewell to his disciples, and a cloud received him 
out of their sight, he was no longer to be apprehended 
by the senses as he had been during the three years of his 
sojourn among them in active life and service. True, he 
ascended to the Father, and by virtue of having achieved 
redemption for humanity he became forever our Inter- 
cessor. Notwithstanding all this, he gave distinct declara- 


182 THp SrxtH FINAuiry or FarrH 


tion that he would never in reality leave his disciples. 
“T will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Heb. 13:5). 
“Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the 
world” (Matt. 28:20). Jesus Christ is a living Presence 
in the world today. Nothing else can explain what 
Doctor Matheson calls “The growth of the Spirit of 
Christianity,’ in his two noble volumes under that title. 
After the departure of Christ, his own disciples confidently 
believed in his nearness, his support, and his sympathy. 

Throughout the centuries the companionship of Jesus 
Christ has been one of the dearest treasures of his wit- 
nesses. Men and women have gone to their martyrdom 
perfectly sure that Jesus was near upholding them. He 
companionates men and women today as really as when 
he walked in Galilee and Judea. The Christian man of 
business in his office or in his place of trade may entertain 
the most confident certainty that he has the fellowship 
of the “Lord of glory” day by day. Jesus said, “Abide 
in me, and I in you” (John 15:4). “If any man hear 
my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and 
will sup with him, and he with me” (Rev. 3:20). 

This sense of the presence of Christ gives us unspeak- 
able encouragement when we are facing what would 
naturally be impossible tasks. He is still the Burden- 
bearer, joining us in carrying the load along life’s high- 
way. He is still the Great Physician, healing manifold 
sicknesses and correcting the ailments of men. “Surely 
he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows” (Isa. 
53:4). This was never more true than today. It com- 
pletely changes life to know that he who died for us on 
Calvary and loves us with an everlasting love feels our 
every heartache, understands our every difficulty, and is 


Gop 1s HERE 183 


sympathetically with us in every holy aspiration and pur- 
pose of life. 

Yes, God is here. Nature declares it. The Book of 
God declares it. The experience of humanity declares it. 
And we can rest assured that we are not fighting our 
battles alone. “Having loved his own which were in 
the world, he loved them unto the end” (John 13:1). 


§ 4, God Is Here in His Church 


The largest individual efficiency is not accomplished or 
secured through isolated effort. It is very possible for 
individualism to go to the extreme of weakness. So 
many are the difficulties and discouragements in Chris- 
tian service that each worker needs the conscious sup- 
port and cooperation of fellow workers. Moreover, no 
individual has all the wisdom with regard to methods; 
and in a multitude of counsel the wisest policies are 
evolved. Still further, we need cooperative service to 
reveal our own weaknesses, our own faults and failures. 
We come to a better understanding of humanity, and 
of what humanity needs, through close association and 
fellowship with kindred spirits who are animated by the 
same principles and controlled by the same motives. 

It has been very properly said that no one really learns 
truth until he teaches it. In giving expression to our own 
views, whether of doctrine or methods, we come to a 
more fortified position and attitude than we could other- 
wise occupy. There are scores of other reasons that 
might be adduced for codperative service. Each indi- 
vidual is personally and solely accountable to God for 
his or her conduct, but it is none the less true that we 
may add to our effectiveness through counsel and co- 


184 THe SuxtH FINAuITY or FAITH 


Operation. We supplement one another in service. It 
is often the fact that what one person cannot do alone a 
number grouped together can accomplish with ease. 

All this makes plain the reason why the Christian 
church was organized as the great agency that was to 
realize the kingdom. Jesus Christ laid the foundation 
of the kingdom personally and alone, but very soon he 
called disciples into fellowship with one another and with 
himself. It was necessary that his influence and purpose 
should be transmitted and that the great institutions of 
the future should rest on human pillars. Individuals pass 
on, but their work may remain imprinted upon the hearts 
of those whom they have influenced. At the same time, 
in order to perpetuate the good they have undertaken, 
it is important that it shall have been invested in institu- 
tions that do not die and do not pass on. Institutions 
conserve results and carry those results on from one 
generation to another. 


Tuer FouNDING OF THE CHURCH 


What, then, was the origin of the Christian Church? 
The answer is, first, Jesus himself; and secondly, the 
very beginnings of the organization are to be dated from 
the moment that Jesus said to the fishermen of Galilee, 
“Follow me,” and “they . . . followed him.” Following 
led to a fellowship, at first natural and unorganized, and 
yet none the less real. Now the fact is, the Church has 
always been held together more by spirit than by law, 
more by fellowship than by machinery. Its beginnings 
were totally in the lines of fellowship and without any 
machinery. A further step was taken in the organization 
of the Church when the followers of Jesus, or some of 


Gop 1s HERE 185 


them, became apostles. He called together twelve who 
were organized. He himself was at the head, with Judas 
as the treasurer, and the group, without laws, was held 
together through a sort of spiritual gravitation which 
attracted them to their Lord and Leader. Through all 
this, Jesus was present in the flesh, and no organization 
more than this was necessary. He was sufficiently power- 
ful in his personality to hold all those who would follow 
him. It was a very true fellowship, as established, as 
unified, as definitely directed as they could have been by 
constitution and by-laws. The twelve apostles constituted 
an apostolic fellowship. It was the first theological sem- 
inary. Jesus was the sole instructor. He was the only 
leader and head of this new spiritual institution who 
could be said to embody in himself every truth, every 
principle, and every purpose designed to be contributed 
to others. He could say, “J am... . the truth.” The 
Magna Charta of the apostolic Church was not the Ser- 
mon on the Mount, alone; it was all the teachings of 
Jesus, all the doings of Jesus, and all the being of Jesus. 
The being, the doing, the teaching, the dying, and resur- 
rection of Jesus Christ constitute the charter of the 
Church. 

Creeds and constitutions only seek to put in condensed 
and intelligible form the great essential features of the 
life and works of Christ. Personal efficiency demands 
cooperation and fellowship. We add to this the fact 
that the opportunity for the largest cooperation and 
greatest fellowship is in the Church of God, and that 
our attitude and view regarding the Church has much 
to do with our efficiency in Christian service. If there 
is any view of the Church entertained which divests it 


186 THe SrxtaH FINALITY oF Faire 


of divine sanction, our loyalty to it will be indifferent 
and our achievements will be small. People who come 
to believe in the Church merely as a company of disciples 
voluntarily associated for worship, and nothing more, 
regard it as perfectly proper at any time to disfellowship 
themselves, and they are very likely to be unduly critical 
toward the Church of Christ. On the other hand, people 
who entertain a view of the Church as divinely estab- 
lished with a divine intent and accomplishing a divine 
purpose are loyal to it and devote themselves more as- 
siduously to fulfill God’s will in and through it. It is 
my conviction that a true conception of the Christian 
Church has a vast deal to do with the effectiveness of a 
Christian minister and a Christian worker as well. It is 
important, then, to take carefully into consideration all 
the points leading up to the organization of the Church 
and its subsequent work in the world. 


Tur ApostoLic CHURCH 


The apostolic Church came into being, first, by the 
call of individual men in humble walks of life to follow 
Jesus. ‘This was the sum total of duty presented to them. 
They soon came to learn that following Jesus meant to 
be filled with his spirit, to act with the same compassion 
and kindliness as he acted, to become more than imitators 
of him, to partake of his spirit and method and employ 
it in leading men from the depths of sin and lifting them 
to the heights of holiness with a new program and pur- 
pose in life. For less than three years these men were 
taught by our Lord himself, in parable and metaphor, 
by direct declaration, by definite and distinct expression 
indicating his consciousness of himself as the Saviour of 


Gop 1s HERB 187 


the world, by his attitude toward his enemies, toward 
the afflicted, toward the despondent and discouraged, to- 
ward the extremely simple, toward people of every caste 
and kind, and they were instructed as to how they were 
to win souls to God. Finally, they received their greatest 
instruction when voluntarily he laid down his life that he 
might take it again and fulfill the prophecy he had made 
regarding himself that he would be crucified, that he 
would rise again the third day from the dead. 

But before he went to his cross, Jesus gave the final 
touch of divineness to the Christian Church. He called 
the group of disciples together in an upper chamber and 
then employed an ancient symbol to become the memorial 
of his own sacrifice. He instituted the Lord’s Supper 
in the upper room. In instituting that Supper he em- 
ployed the Passover Feast as the chief feature of it, the 
symbol to be employed ever after as indicative of the 
spirit of the Church of Christ. Whatever might have 
been wanting to indicate the thought of Jesus regarding 
the Church as a divine institution was made up at the 
Last Supper with all its solemnity, with its instruction, 
with its prayer, with the great pronouncements of the 
Teacher who was about to depart from them. 

It might properly be said that Jesus Christ founded 
the Church in the upper room in Jerusalem. From all 
these facts, my conception of the Church is this, it is 
not an institution organized by men for the purpose of 
carrying out their religious ideas or ideals. It is vastly 
more than a mere voluntary association of individuals 
for this purpose. It is an organization and institution 
ordained of God, founded by Jesus Christ, really divine 
as his own words are divine, and with a purpose as holy 


188 Tue Srxrs FINALITY or Fairn 


as was the purpose of revelation, of the Word of God. 
My conviction is not alone because of the way in which 
the Church was founded in the upper chamber, or of the 
teaching of the apostles, or any of the events that led up 
to the crucifixion and then to the resurrection. My con- 
viction is based still further upon the marvelous history 
of the Christian Church, in which all the early promises 
were more than realized and her achievements in the 
world outran anything that could have been expected at 
the time the Church was established. The period of the 
apostolic Church was not a period of creed-making, be- 
cause Jesus himself was the Creed. The only statement 
of faith required was faith in Jesus Christ as representing 
the highest truths of God, the redemptive purpose of the 
Infinite and all that relates to individual holiness and 
progress. 


Tue Patristic CHURCH 


Immediately upon the departure of Jesus Christ as a 
visible presence the Church convened for prayer and for 
guidance. They had been assured that this guidance 
would be vouchsafed them, and that in due time they 
would be endued with wisdom and with power from on 
high. We find them, then, wrapped in meditation and 
prayer, awaiting a further revelation from God. ‘They 
did not wait in vain. The membership of the Church was 
constituted of eleven to whom was added another, by 
election, who took the place of the betrayer, Judas. The 
beginning of the enlargement of this membership was 
on the day of Pentecost. There had undoubtedly been 
vast numbers in hearty sympathy with the apostles in 
their purposes and in their loyalty and allegiance to the 


Gop 1s HERE 189 


teachings of Jesus. They had not, however, been re- 
ceived into any sort of organic relation until the day of 
Pentecost. Then the Word reveals the fact that three 
thousand were converted and became a part of the Church. 
This extraordinary accession is not to be attributed to the 
miraculous manifestation of the moment, but to the in- 
struction which had been going on during the active 
ministry of Jesus and through the influence of his fol- 
lowers. 

Immediately following Pentecost, the apostles, as the 
natural leaders and the appointed guardians of the Sacred 
Teachings, proceeded to instruct people in the teachings 
of Jesus, and interpreted his life and his death to those 
about them. ‘The record says that “They . . . went 
every where preaching the word” in accordance with the 
final injunction of Jesus Christ, who told them to “Go 

. into all the world, and preach the gospel to every 
creature’ (Mark 16:15). Under this commission they 
engaged in that service. The record of it is very incom- 
plete. We have striking references, however, to some 
achievements which were almost immediately enjoyed. 
To them was given the ability to perform such wonderful 
works of healing as should impress the people with the 
fact that they were the appointed agents of Jesus Christ, 
who were to represent him to the world. Some effort at 
organization was undoubtedly undertaken very quickly, 
and this led to various disputes and difficulties. But in 
spite of any of these handicaps the organization pro- 
ceeded, the work continued, and the Gospel was preached. 

Transcendent events succeeded Pentecost. The vision 
of Peter at Joppa, where he had been directly called by 
the divine Spirit, and where he received the revelation of 


190 THe SixtH Finauity or Fara 


the larger Church; his visit to Cornelius which resulted 
in opening the doors of the Church to the Gentiles. Here, 
for the first time, ‘the wideness of God’s mercy like the 
wideness of the sea” was made perfectly evident, and 
worked an extraordinary change in the attitude and rela- 
tions of the early Church toward humanity. The other 
event was the conversion of Saul of Tarsus on his way 
to Damascus, which was the signal for the inauguration 
of a great propaganda, and the extension of the kingdom 
beyond the borders of Palestine. Paul established church 
after church through his eloquent and earnest presenta- 
tion of Jesus Christ as the Saviour of men and as the 
fulfillment of the hopes, both of the Jews and of the 
Gentiles. 

Tradition records the loyalty and devotion of those 
disciples, a definite record of whose work is not given. 
But the time came when the last of the apostles had died. 
The seer of Patmos, the aged John, was vouchsafed 
glimpses of eternal Glory. He went around among his 
fellow Christians telling them to love one another. The 
apostolic age was ended. By this time the Church was 
well established, and through the martyrdom of apostles 
and disciples the vine that the Lord had planted was 
watered with blood. The followers of Jesus Christ and 
the Church were already beginning to realize what Jesus 
had predicted in the parable of the mustard seed. 

The apostolic period was succeeded by what is known 
as the patristic period. The apostles had successors who 
were called the “Fathers of the Church.” This was the 
period of great organization, of creed statement, of church 
machinery, designed to carry out the enterprise that had 
been organized and set in operation. It was a period of 


Gop 18 HERE 191 


profligacy as well as of great contention with the outside 
world. At first the Church was too insignificant a 
matter to receive the attention of emperors, and of stand- 
ing armies, but its attack upon the vices of the day, its 
opposition to the established order of things that was 
in the nature of tyranny, and its opposition to the de- 
struction of the good and the true at last compelled atten- 
tion. Governments that existed through exploitation of 
their own subjects could not be content under the bitter 
accusation of the highest and holiest class of citizens 
then in the world. That which was at first regarded as 
negligible, then was scoffed at, later became a force with 
which world powers had to reckon. Institutions of learn- 
ing were against the Church. All the culture of the world 
derided it. But patiently and with the persistence of the 
onward movements of the sun, the Church continued to 
declare the profoundest philosophy of life that had ever 
been proclaimed. The pride of humanity was not to be 
humbled without protest. 

It is not strange, therefore, that in this controversial 
period, organized antagonism sprang up. Influences were 
everywhere set in operation, denouncing and excoriating 
this presumptuous institution that had sprung up among 
the people, assuming great authority in matters of faith 
and conduct. The Church had no social position to com- 
mand the attention of the world. It enjoyed no prestige 
of power, or of learning, society, government. It made 
its way by virtue of its inherent worth and only that. 
Jesus had greatly disappointed his followers when he 
told them, “My kingdom is not of this world,” and yet 
he proclaimed the fact that his kingdom would extend 
until it came to be a world-wide kingdom. This was 


192 THe SrxtTH FINAvITY or FaitrH 


to be accomplished, not through the sword, but through 
sacrifice. / 

The living “Lord of glory” remained the crystallizing 
center of the Church and overcame the influences of error 
that were opposed to the great essential truths of redemp- 
tion. So pervasive became the influence of the Church 
that the mightiest power in the world was obliged to take 
notice of it, making great pronouncements against it. 
Then all the forces of empires were exhorted to crush 
and destroy it. ‘The imperial edicts of successive em- 
perors engaged to eliminate it. Nero, Domitian, Trajan, 
Hadrian, Marcus Aurelius, Septimius Severus, Decius, 
Valerian, and Diocletian called all the powers of earth 
to engage in wholesale ruin and destruction. Arenas 
were lighted with the fires of martyrdom. The earth was 
stained with the blood of the heroes of the Church, but 
after every persecution it was discovered that the disciples 
had multiplied, that the organization was more complete 
than ever, and that the outstanding facts in the world 
were Christ, the Church of Christ, and the Book of God 
from whose pages the people were taught. 

At the close of the period the eagle dipped to the 
Cross and the standard of Rome fell before the banner 
of the Church. The Church became not only an eccle- 
siastical but a great civil and political power. In your 
study of Church History you will learn how this became 
the great peril to the Church. She now began to seek 
worldly aggrandizement. She became intoxicated with 
the very power she enjoyed. Her popularity lowered her 
spiritual standards. She began to temporize, compromise, 
to sacrifice the spirit of Christ for larger power. She 
began to depend upon human agencies and instrumentali- 


Gop 18 HERE 193 


ties instead of the Spirit of God. She trusted in ma- 
chinery instead of in the Man of Galilee. Gradually she 
moved into the shadow of the period of medievalism. 


THE MEDIEVAL CHURCH 


The moment the Church substituted the material for 
the spiritual, to brand herself with material aggrandize- 
ment not only in the nature of political power but of 
splendor in her expressions of worship and service, mak- 
ing impressive by embellishments her house of worship, 
and making spectacular her modes of worship, her de- 
cline began and continued steadily. The worship of 
images and of relics took the place of the worship of 
Christ. The performance of church routine duties be- 
came a substitute for the Holy Spirit. The essential ele- 
ments of the religion of Christ were lost. Just as in 
ancient Israel there were still many faithful, so now there 
were altar fires that never died out, there were those who 
harked back to the historic Christ and who looked up to 
the interceding Saviour as the present-day Christ. There 
were indeed oases in the desert, yet it was a desert. There 
were bright streamers now and then indicating that the 
sun had not been blotted out, and yet, it was night. The 
period is very properly known as the “Dark Ages.” 
Everywhere in the medieval period the letter was sub- 
stituted for the spirit and “the letter killeth, but the spirit 
giveth life’ (2 Cor. 3:6). Papal courts became more 
corrupt, if possible, than pagan courts had been before. 
The highest places of the Church were bought and sold 
like any ordinary thing in the market. Every namable 
crime was committed in the name of religion. 

If it had been difficult for the Church to confront and 

13 


194 Toe Sixta Finauity or Fara 


overcome merely material force when it was manifested 
by paganism it became much more difficult when the cor- 
rupting and degrading influence was within the Church 
itself. In fighting paganism the Church had an avowed 
and acknowledged enemy, but when the better element 
in the Church, disgusted and disgraced, sought reform 
they seemed to be fighting their own fellow Christians, 
and little headway could be made. A great menace to 
organized religion arose in Mohammedanism. It seemed 
for a time, by its marvelous successes, likely to conquer 
the whole world. Its great military power was finally 
broken by Charles Martel and his royal army. But the 
chief dangers to the Church were within and not with- 
out. There is nothing that bears greater testimony to 
the inherent vitality of the Church of God than its ability 
to survive the influences of unworthy leaders during this 
long period. Nothing in history records anything com- 
parable to the movements of the Crusades, which con- 
tinued for a period of three centuries. It was a strange 
admixture of good and evil. Its purpose was to wrest 
from the hated Mohammedan power the holy sepulcher 
of Jesus. ‘The sacrifice made in the attempt was enor- 
mous. It was not an unmixed evil. It acquainted diverse 
civilizations with one another, and tended to solidify the 
forces of the Christian Church. 


THE REFORMED CHURCH 


The long night ended at last in the dawn of the 
Reformation. We are all perfectly familiar with the 
many useless and futile protests that were made to a 
clergy drunk with the love of power, indolent, impudent, 
and indifferent. Above all, we know how degraded a 


Gop 18 HERE 195 


position the Church occupied, when the right to sin was 
openly sold in the market for money, and when eternal 
salvation had a material price laid upon it. The vision 
of the monk of Erfurt, of a Christ approachable directly 
is all a matter of history with which every intelligent 
Christian is familiar. As clearly and as quickly as Paul 
was converted, so Luther on the stairs of the Santa Scala 
at Rome was converted. 

It was the beginning of a new period for the Church 
of God. The Reformation quickly made a revelation 
of the large multitude of people of religious spirit and 
purpose who were sick unto death of the imperialism and 
tyranny of mere ecclesiasticism, and who wanted to get 
back to Christ and to God. It was a long, wearisome 
struggle, but, as truth always does, it conquered. The 
great feature of the Reformation was to bring every 
individual face to face with God without the necessity of 
any human mediation; secondly, to declare the right of 
every individual to be a witness for God. Then came 
the period of Bible making and Bible distribution, and 
this inaugurated the period of the Modern Church. 


THE MopERN CHURCH 


It 1s impossible to fix a date for what may be called 
the modern Church. The great Wesleyan Reformation 
may be regarded as the approximate time when the new 
era in Protestant Christianity had its origin. The Church 
of that day had become utterly devoid of anything even 
approximating spiritual zeal. Ritualism had degenerated 
into the coldest formalism. Aridity and barrenness had 
made the Church a reproach and a byword. The Lord’s 
Day was a day of sports and pleasure, and the clergy in 


196 Toe Sixta FINAviry or Farta 


general held their positions not because of any fitness for 
the sacred office but through favoritism. The ministry 
had become only a means of securing a living, with no 
thought of true ambassadorship. LE cclesiasticism was 
arbitrary and intolerant, and any manifestation of evan- 
gelistic fervor was not only discouraged but promptly 
suppressed. 

A growing discontent with these deplorable conditions 
led earnest souls to resolve to break the iron bands of 
cold custom and proclaim a redemptive Gospel with true 
soul passion. Response to this Gospel message was im- 
mediate. Revivals of religion sprang up spontaneously 
all over Europe and America. A pentecostal atmosphere, 
dynamic with the Holy Spirit, was created through groups 
of consecrated Christians, who were determined to pre- 
sent the Gospel of Christ in its apostolic purity. 

As so often in human progress, there was action fol- 
lowed by deplorable reaction. On the whole, however, 
the value of faithful witnessing for Christ was increas- 
ingly recognized and resulted in a rapid growth of the 
Church. Multitudes hungering and thirsting for the 
“Bread of God” and “the water of life’ repented, de- 
nounced sin, and entered upon a godly life. The con- 
trast between these genuine disciples of Jesus Christ and 
those merely nominal Christians was such a rebuke to 
the withered and wasted established Church that civil 
authority was invoked to suppress the entire movement. 
But the cry of the Greeks of old, “Sir, we would see 
Jesus,” was too strong for the combined civil and ecclesi- 
astical powers to silence it. Hence the Church of the 
Modern Period. 

Liberty of worship; the validity of personal experience 


Gop 18 HERE 197 


as a witness to the truth; the right of private interpreta- 
tion of God’s Word; instantaneous regeneration through 
the Holy Spirit; a clergy in which piety and soul passion 
should be evidenced; all these and many other things 
that made for efficiency characterized the new era. 

Once free from the iron hand of an unspiritual eccle- 
siasticism, the new movement spread with astounding 
rapidity. Live coals from the altar of the Eternal touched 
the lips of multitudes, who became eloquent witnesses and 
advocates for Jesus Christ. The modern Church had its 
birth in the higher loyalties of twice-born men. 

History repeats itself. Modernism has opiated the 
Church of today until it has ceased to be sensitive to the 
realities of the Cross. A renunciation of the Saviour- 
hood of Jesus Christ is leading large sections of the 
Church not only into inefficiency but, much worse, into a 
positively destructive influence upon spiritual life. Fer- 
vent souls who are able to say, “I know whom I have 
believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that 
which I have committed unto him against that day” (2 
Tim. 1:12), must courageously combine to present the 
Christ of the Gospels as the only hope of humanity. 

A genuine Christian altruism led to the development 
of many associate and collateral movements which became 
a definite and valuable aid to the Church itself. The 
widening scope of elementary education made possible 
the multiplication of readers of God’s Word. This in 
turn paved the way for the modern revival of the Sun- 
day-school by Robert Raikes, who in the simplest man- 
ner started a movement with no dream of the marvelous 
influence it was to exercise. The Sunday-school became 


198 Tue Srxto FINAvITY or FaItH 


and still is the most valuable recruiting agency the Church 
has ever known. 

To loyal evangelicals in the Church is to be traced also 
the inauguration of the Young Men’s Christian Associa- 
tion. When George Williams gathered a few neglected 
youths in London with a view to their physical, intel- 
lectual, and spiritual betterment, and above all to their 
soul’s salvation, no one could have imagined that an or- 
ganization would be developed belting the globe, with 
light and love acting as a strong arm of the Church, to 
redeem, rejuvenate and educate multitudes of young men 
and later furnish incentive and opportunity for higher 
intellectual cultivation and development. It is to be 
feared that the Young Men’s Christian Association is not 
holding as it should hold to the original idea of soul- 
saving. Let us hope and pray that it will never become 
merely an ethical or educational club, but that it may 
hold fast the one great objective of bringing young men 
into such relations with God through Christ that ever- 
lasting life shall be theirs, 

The Young Women’s Christian Association is another 
organization that has greatly blessed the Church while 
faithful to the great purpose of the Church in the salva- 
tion, protection, education, and development of young 
women. 

Still another movement which had its origin in a soul 
charged with evangelistic fervor is the Christian En- 
deavor Society founded by Dr. Francis FE. Clark. Who 
can measure the influence of this organization which has 
as its slogan, “For Christ and the Church”? Modernism 
cannot be credited with one single forward looking and 
uplifting movement such as has been mentioned. 


Gop 18 HERE 199 


We have yet to name one of the greatest of all of the 
world movements which has powerfully influenced the 
evangelical Church and Christianity in general, — mod- 
ern missions. For more than a hundred years the de- 
termined effort to fulfill the mandate of Jesus and carry 
the Gospel into all the world has reacted upon the Church 
through its increased spiritual fervor and devotion. This 
entire movement was born in a passion like that of Jesus 
Christ in his redemptive program. Men and women, 
filled with the Spirit, have recognized the lostness of the 
world out of Christ, and at any cost and the risk of life 
itself a great army of youth has invaded every country 
on the globe with the Calvary message. It will be a sad 
day for the modern Church when social betterment or 
educational improvement shall be substituted for soul 
salvation as a missionary motive. If the modern Church 
fails in the fulfillment of its task, it will be because un- 
regenerate leaders have led her to discredit the authority 
of God’s Word, the Saviourhood of Jesus Christ, and 
the dynamic of the Holy Spirit. 

In his inaugural address Dr. Henry Sloane Coffin, as 
President of Union Seminary, said: “There is a general 
question of the competency of the existent churches to 
furnish the religion so earnestly needed.” He might 
appropriately have continued to say: The reason of this 
lack of competency is the utterly false note which has 
been struck by various professors in our theological sem- 
inaries! What he did state is absolutely true. In the 
present condition of the churches, with the incertitude of 
their leaders and the abandonment of great fundamentals, 
it is more than doubtful whether they can furnish the 
religion so earnestly needed, because the religion needed 


200 THe SrxtH FINAuITY or Faro 


is the Christian religion presented in the unadulterated, 
undiminished Gospel of the Son of God as proclaimed in 
the Bible. The Church must hark back, not alone to the 
teachings of Jesus, but to the sacrifice of Jesus on Cal- 
vary and the great body of spiritual truth revealed in 
the Holy Word, before it can furnish the world with the 
religion which alone can lift it into true fellowship with 
God. 


§5. Faith and Reality 


Christianity is accused of demanding blind acceptance. 
It is often said that faith is required to take the place 
of knowledge, and that in the realm of religion what- 
ever is accepted has to be accepted without adequate 
evidence. Definitions of faith are never complete. We 
know what we mean by it but cannot very satisfactorily 
describe it. The Bible speaks of faith as “the substance 
of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” In 
its broader sense, faith is a confidence in and full accept- 
ance of a Personality, real and reliable, or of a concept 
or principle as true and obligatory. Some one has said, 
“Faith is a recognition of spiritual reality and moral 
principles as of paramount importance and authority.” 
Faith rests on evidence, but reaches beyond it. As the 
upper part of a column, reaching up into the cloud, rests 
upon what is visible and is supported by it, so faith 
reaches beyond the realms of the mechanical or mathe- 
matical demonstration. 

In religion, faith is practical, historical, and saving. 
A historical faith leads to the acceptance of the Bible 
as God’s Word. A saving faith accepts God’s favor as 
manifested in Jesus Christ. Faith is intellectual assent 


Gop 18 HERE 201 


with an affectional element and an obedient purpose. Now 
such a faith as this is indispensable to everlasting life 
and continuous growth. Religion is a matter of personal 
relations. Those personal relations transcend rational 
definitions. William Ernest Hocking in his admirable 
book, ‘“The Meaning of God in Human Experience,” be- 
gins his preface with these words: “The services of 
thought to religion have been subject to a justified dis- 
trust. By right instinct has religion looked elsewhere for 
the brunt of support and defense, say to revelation, to 
faith, to feeling. Our current science of religion may 
now assume without too much discussion that the grounds 
of religion are superrational or subrational . . . The 
philosophic trends agree in accepting the judgments that 
religion lies close to the primitive moving forces of life, 
even deeper than reason or any work of reason . 
What realism desires is more valid objectivity substan- 
tially in the world beyond itself . . . Religious ideas 
and beliefs, if powerless, are false.” 

It becomes evident, then, that we must demand of our 
faith much more than that which is agreeable to an in- 
dolent spirit. We must demand that which is a spur, 
a prophecy, and a promise. It is faith which acquaints 
us with truth beyond the border line of logic and science, 
and which fills our treasury with those remedial, restora- 
tional, and inspirational realities that we can offer with- 
out hesitancy and without question to meet the deep 
yearnings of the immortal soul. Our mission becomes 
a successful one in proportion as we are able to set our 
religion constructively at work. Personal efficiency in 
Christian service requires vastly more than the acceptance 
of the fact that God is. It is very easy to fall into the 


202 THe SrxtH FINALITY or FAITH 


mistaken idea that a vast amount of the body of religious 
thought is non-essential. Faith makes for us a present 
possession of all that vast body of spiritual truth which, 
without faith, is merely conjectural, and is pushed far 
into the future as a possibility or at most a remote prob- 
ability. Real faith is not a vague, misty phase of un- 
certainty. It is a realized possession. Our faith must 
comprehend the infinite love, goodness, mercy, wisdom, 
and truth of God as manifested in Jesus Christ. We 
are hopelessly at sea when we undertake to explain all 
the infelicities, the irregularities, and the injustices of 
life. The obligation to do this is not laid upon us. Our 
faith that “God is love’ is based upon his benevolent 
providences and his distinct revelation. Having accepted 
that as a basic fact, we can go out into a world where 
there is much that is incongruous, untrue, and unwhole- 
some and not be overwhelmed or unduly depressed. Faith 
in a knowable and lovable God blossoms into an intimate 
acquaintance with him, which gives the soul its true 
repose. 


§6. The Vital Issues of Today 


It must be evident to any thoughtful mind that the 
church is moving in a zone of storm today. This is not 
nearly so deplorable as we sometimes think. The zone 
of breezeless calm is much more dangerous than the zone 
of storm. It is important to recognize what the chief 
issue is. It is a question of belief im Christ, or with 
Christ. Is Christianity a faith in God like Christ’s faith 
in the Father, or a faith in Christ as God? Are we to 
revere Christ, applaud him, admire him, or are we to 
worship him? The difference between the two is as wide 


Gop 1s HERE 203 


apart as the poles. Shall we beatify Christ or shall we 
deify him? There certainly can be no question as to 
what Christ expects, as between these two. Do we come 
to God the Father with Christ as a fellow companion just 
as much in need of God as we are, or do we come to God 
through Jesus Christ who was “God manifest in the 
flesh”? ‘The Scriptures are not ambiguous at this point. 
There is not one single utterance of the inspired Word 
that would encourage us to think that Christ is one of 
us, but no more than one of us. The Scriptures em- 
phatically teach that it is through Jesus Christ and in 
Jesus Christ that we find God if we find him at all. 

The Socinian view of Christ gives us a hero view 
but not a divine view. He is admirable in his courage, 
his elevated thought, his sacrificial spirit, but no more. 
We have again the prophet view of Christ, which repre- 
sents him as a wonderful teacher with extraordinary 
spiritual insight. In that case, Christ stands beside us 
as one of us, facing God. Although very much superior 
to us in many ways, he is not capable from this view- 
point of making any atonement for sin. Sin then is 
evaporated into mere weakness or sickness. We are saved 
from our misfortunes by culture, by education, without 
repentance or confession. Such a Christ might still 
assist us in our sicknesses, but he has no power to deal 
with us in our sin. Spiritual authority is unnecessary, 
because we have only to follow the inner counsels of our 
own heart. If history teaches us anything, however, it 
is this: That the basis of a permanent church is a divine 
revelation and not a subjective emotion or inspiration. 

No great progress. has ever been made by the church 
in any period of the history of Christianity except as 


204 Tue SrxtsH FINAuITY or Farira 


the leaders of the church have clearly recognized a true 
source of spiritual authority outside and beyond them- 
selves. Of course, such authority must have corrobora- 
tion in spiritual experience. Doctor Forsyth is quite right 
when he says, ‘“‘Only an atoning religion has either power 
or future.” Inthe future church which is successful and 
progressive three things will be recognized as vitally sig- 
nificant, — belief, worship, and service. All three of these 
are essential to clear vision and undiminishing virility. 
No successful church ignores the work of the Cross. We 
must recognize that sin is a wrong toward God. It is 
one thing to call humanity to adopt the religion of Jesus. 
It is an entirely different thing to call humanity to the 
worship of Jesus. 

Christ is indeed a Prophet, without any doubt. He is 
also God’s plenipotentiary. But he is vastly more than 
either of these, He was and is God. The person of 
Jesus must forever be the world’s spiritual power center. 
All this is because his Cross represents not an object 
lesson in sacrifice, even to the point of martyrdom, but 
a redemption through which a lost world is saved. God 
alone could atone for sin, and in -Jesus Christ he did it. 
There is no re-creation or restoration without redemption. 
That redemption has been achieved in Jesus Christ. ‘God 
sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; 
but that the world through him might be saved” (John 
3:17). Christ has access to the wealth of the universe 
and all that transcends it. He distributes it wherever 
it will be accepted. Jesus was saddened by sorrow, and 
poured out streams of sympathy from the hidden springs 
of his own being to:cool the fever of humanity and bring 
health. Wherever the sinner is aroused to his own need, 


Gop 1s HERE 205 


he finds redemptive forces leaping to his relief. The 
Pharisaism of Christ’s time is exactly what we meet to- 
day. It is indeed a false pride that refuses outside help 
when nothing else can lead us up and on. In moments 
of its:surest sanity the heart of man cries for the help of 
a holy God. Only Jesus Christ can answer that cry. 

Not long ago the people of New England gathered to- 
gether in groups to study the effect of an eclipse of the 
sun. It was a most impressive spectacle. All nature ap- 
peared strange. It seemed as though some great sorrow 
had fallen upon nature and she were clothing herself in 
sable garments. The glory of the day departed, and the 
attitude was one of profound thoughtfulness. There 
were, however, some striking things about the effect of 
the eclipse. One of these was the persistence of faith. 
Nobody doubted that the sun would shine again. It did 
shine again, just as resplendent, just as glorious as before 
the eclipse. 

Just now the Sun of Righteousness is in eclipse in many 
quarters. A shadow of doubt hides the face of multitudes 
of people from the face of our Lord. Thousands who 
at one time thought they knew him as he is presented in 
the Gospel picture are experiencing a loss of spiritual 
vision. If nature’s eclipse had stayed long, vegetation 
would have become stunted, flowers would have ceased 
to bloom, and no harvests would have rewarded the toil 
of the husbandmen. The world would not only be cold 
and dark, but, after time, would become uninhabitable 
without the shining of the sun. All this has application 
to the Sun of Righteousness. Blot out Christ in the moral 
and spiritual sky, and the world is dead. In the present 
eclipse there is no revealed truth that is not challenged, 


206 THe SrxtH FINALITY oF FaitrH 


no Gospel that is not impugned, no traditional beliefs that 
are not ridiculed. But just as faith persisted during the 
eclipse of the sun so it will persist now. It is only a 
passing shadow. ‘The glory of God still shines in the 
face of Jesus Christ. Have faith in the order of God’s 
spiritual universe. 


Vil 


THE SEVENTH FINALITY OF FAITH 
GOD IS COMING AGAIN 


§1. The Fact of the Second Coming 


OD IS coming again. This is not to say that God 
is not continuously in his world, working with 
and for humanity. God was in the world also 

before the Incarnation, but he came to his world in a 
new and particular manifestation of himself in Jesus 
Christ. The Incarnation was in very truth a coming of 
God to the world to become a part of the historic life of 
humanity. Jesus Christ was the visualized Presence of 
God among men. He was a manifestation particular and 
unique for a special purpose. Having accomplished his 
mission, namely, the redemption of the world, Jesus 
returned again to the Father. Again let us say that this 
by no means signifies an absent Christ. It simply means 
that Jesus is no longer manifested in the flesh. ‘He is 
not visually present with his people. He is here in the 
power of his Spirit, engaged in those blessed activities 
that bring those who are willing to accept and receive 
him into immediate fellowship with himself. His com- 
panionship today may be so vitally real to the individual 
soul as to sustain, encourage, cheer, heal, help, and secure 
the perfect development of the soul. Life is vastly dif- 
ferent for those who accept the fact, and enter actively 
into it, that Jesus Christ is a real Presence today. 
207 


208 Tue SeventH FINALITY oF Faro 


All this, however, is apart from Christ’s Second Com- 
ing. The fact of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ 
must be accepted as a distinct and definite revelation. 
Undoubtedly there are many forced interpretations in 
connection with the Second Coming. It is claimed that 
more than seven times as many references are made to 
the Second Coming of Christ as are made to his first 
coming. The references employed have to be studied 
with much care to be sure that the deductions from them 
are neither forced nor fanciful. One, however, cannot 
read Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians without being 
impressed that the testimony for the Second Coming of 
Christ is overwhelmingly strong. ‘And to wait for his 
Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead’ (1 
Thess. 1:10). “To the end he may stablish your hearts 
unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, 
at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his 
saints” (1 Thess. 3:13). “For the Lord himself shall 
descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the 
archangel, and with the trump of God” (1 Thess. 4:16). 
“And I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body 
be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus 
Christ” (1 Thess. 5:23). In Second Thessalonians the 
attention is specifically directed to the danger of being 
misled with respect to this important doctrine. ‘‘Now 
we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, 
that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither 
by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that 
the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you 
by any means: for that day shall not come, except there 
come a falling away first” (2 Thess. 2: 1-3). 


Gop 1s Coming AGAIN 209 


Most emphatically was the declaration of the return of 
Jesus as a visible Presence proclaimed supernaturally at 
the moment of his departure from this world. “And 
while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went 
up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; 
which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing 
up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from 
you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have 
seen him go into heaven” (Acts 1:10, 11). Nothing 
but a very forced interpretation can make this mean any- 
thing other than the visible and actual return of Jesus 
Christ to this world. This truth was immediately ac- 
cepted by the disciples and satisfied them. It became the 
great incentive to their intense activity. Jesus had told 
them distinctly that it was not for them to know the times 
and the seasons, but there is no doubt that many of them 
looked for the early return of Christ. The Pauline 
Epistles abound in evidences that the expectation was 
coextensive with the Church of that day. It was a part 
of the Gospel that was taught. It undoubtedly sustained 
the early workers of the Church in their arduous task, 
and exercised a potent influence in correcting the evils 
of the day. They were exhorted to be faithful and not 
to be discouraged because of the multiplied sufferings 
endured by the disciples of Christ. These things were 
regarded by them as an evidence that Jesus might come 
atany time. ‘But, beloved, remember ye the words which 
were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus 
Christ; how that they told you there should be mockers 
in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly 
lusts. These be they who separate themselves, sensual, 
having not the Spirit” (Jude 17-19). 

14 


210 Tue SEVENTH FINALITY OF FAITH 


In all the New Testament writings we find direct 
references to the return of our Lord. ‘“‘And now, little 
children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we 
may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him 
at his coming” (1 John 2:28). In all the references it is 
made perfectly clear that a personal and visible coming 
of Jesus Christ is meant. “For the Lord himself shall 
descend from heaven” (1 Thess. 4:16). Through the 
centuries “that blessed hope” has been a source of great 
inspiration and comfort to the disciples of Jesus. There 
has never been a time when the Church has not been 
conscious that at any moment Jesus Christ might re- 
appear upon the earth, coming in power and great glory, 
thus fulfilling the promise of his return. In Paul’s Letter 
to Titus he urges the Church to keep constantly in view 
the transcendently important event. “Looking for that 
blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God 
and our Saviour Jesus Christ” (Tit. 2:13). No other 
single event is comparable with this in the future of 
Christianity. It has afforded unspeakable comfort to 
Christian workers through all the years. ‘‘Wherefore 
comfort one another with these words” (1 Thess. 4: 18). 

Notwithstanding the distinct declaration, the earnest 
exhortation, the positive portrayal connected with the 
Second Coming, it is also a fact that from the first the 
doctrine has been repudiated by many and spoken of with 
the greatest disregard or disrespect by others. It is diffi- 
cult to understand why there should be such an attitude 
of antagonism to this great truth. One explanation per- 
haps is this: It does not accord with preconception and 
the humanly determined program respecting the method 
of Christ for the future. All this was foretold by Peter 


Gop 1s Comina AGAIN ' 211 


“Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last 
days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, 
Where is the promise of his coming? For since the 
fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from 
the beginning of the creation” (2 Pet. 3:3, 4). “But, 
beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day 
is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years 
as one day” (2 Pet. 3:8). ‘But the day of the Lord 
will come as a thief in the night; in the which the 
heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the ele- 
ments shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and 
the works that are therein shall be burned up” (2 Pet. 
3:10). “Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look 
for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth right- 
eonsnessiy, (2 Pet, 3.213): 

Another reason why the doctrine has fallen into dis- 
repute is because of the very injudicious predictions of 
its advocates. Though directly contrary to the explicit 
declaration of Scriptures, men have endeavored to set 
the very day when the Lord would come. This has been 
done so often that many people naturally look with a 
great deal of suspicion upon a doctrine that has been so 
much abused. This does not excuse us from a careful 
study and interpretation of the Word of God with re- 
spect to this doctrine. An awful responsibility rests upon 
the Hebrew nation for rejecting the first coming of Christ. 
Let us not be found guilty of deceiving others and our- 
selves by rejecting his Second Coming. 


§2. The Indications at the Time of the 
Second Coming 


There are specific indications to which we are pointed 


212 THe SEVENTH FINALITY oF Fairs 


as suggestive of the approach of the time when our Lord 
shall return to earth. ‘These indications are clearly an- 
nounced by all the sacred writers, and they are in per- 
fect agreement regarding them. In Luke’s Gospel we 
read: “But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, 
be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; 
but the end is not by and by [come yet]” (21:9). A 
general apostasy is to be the condition in the Church. 
There are to be wide departures in the faith. ‘When 
the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” 
(Luke 18:8.) ‘Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that 
in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving 
heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils’ (1 Tim. 
4:1). “This know also, that in the last days perilous 
times shall come . . . But evil men and seducers shall 
wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived” 
(2 Tim. 3:1, 13). Paul urges Timothy to engage as- 
siduously in warning the people, because the time will 
come when they will not endure sound doctrine. They 
will turn aside to fables, and follow false teachers. 

The time of Christ’s coming is to be marked by great 
zeal in spreading the Gospel. ‘And this gospel of the 
kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness 
unto all nations; and then shall the end come” (Matt. 
24:14). The entire remainder of this chapter is devoted 
to the events that are to precede the Second Coming of 
Jesus Christ, as tokens of his Coming. The twenty-fifth 
chapter of Matthew is occupied with a very vivid por- 
trayal of the events that shall transpire when the Son 
of Man comes. 

Another indication of the approach of the Coming of 
Christ is the gathering together of the Jews in Palestine. 


Gop 1s Comina AGAIN 213 


Some of these events have repeatedly occurred, but not all 
of them together at the same time. Without pressing any 
particular references beyond their evident intent, enough 
is made clear to us respecting the conditions that will 
exist immediately preceding the Coming of Christ to 
enable us to reach a reasonable conclusion. 


§3. The Time 


If the Second Coming is distinctly prophesied, it is 
equally true that the time of the Second Coming is not 
declared in any specific way. While certain indications 
are presented we are warned not to undertake to declare 
more than is predicted. The time is withheld. “But of 
that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels 
which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father’ 
(Mark 13:32). “But of the times and the seasons, 
brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For 
yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so 
cometh as a thief in the night” (1 Thess. 5:1, 2). It is 
evidently not the intent of the Scriptures to gratify the 
curiosity of anyone, nor is it designed to furnish any 
basis for a specific and positive declaration as to when 
the Lord will come. If there had been any possible ad- 
vantage in our knowing more, it would have been re- 
vealed to us. It is very easy to make the statement that 
the time is positively near at hand. There is no one in 
the world who can, on the basis of Scripture, declare 
that the Second Coming of Christ is sure to occur within 
the next few years. On the other hand, it is not within 
the province of any individual to say that the Lord may 
not come immediately. There are many indications that 


214 THe SEVENTH FINALITY oF FAITH 


point toward the near approach of that marvelous event 
which will usher in a new era. 

The Scripture has not made it sufficiently definite so 
that any one can state in detail all of the events that will 
occur during the reign of Christ after his return. It is 
tremendously important that the Church should be sane 
in its treatment of the doctrine of the Second Coming. 
That there will be inaugurated a new era with Christ 
in complete mastery in connection with the second man- 
ifestation of God on earth in Christ, there can be no 
doubt. Is this not sufficient? It is enough for us to 
know that the Second Coming of Christ may occur at 
any moment, and concerning this there need be no doubt. 
There is one very striking fact, and that is that all con- 
spicuous evangelists and nearly all who may be called 
great “‘soul-winners” believe in and preach the Second 
Coming. Christ has honored his servants who have made 
this the basis of a strong appeal for immediate surrender 
to Christ. As an incentive to conscientious and con- 
secrated living it has an important place. “And take 
heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be over- 
charged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of 
this life, and so that day come upon you unawares” 
(Luke 21:34). We are exhorted to watch, and it is 
declared: ‘Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when 
he cometh shall find so doing” (Matt. 24:46). 


§ 4. The Result of the Second Coming 


The Book of Revelation deals with the conditions that 
shall result from the Second Coming of Christ. While 
we need great caution in our interpretation of this mys- 
tical, yet marvelous Book, some things seem very clear. 


Gop 1s Comina AGAIN 215 


First among these is the fact of the Millennium. Follow- 
ing the awful period of unspeakable suffering and tribula- 
tion referred to in the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew, 
Jesus will come and institute a special reign upon the 
earth which shall continue a thousand years. ‘This is 
definitely referred to in the twentieth chapter of Revela- 
tion. Then Antichrist is to be destroyed, and the enemies 
of God’s people will no longer have power to continue 
their ruinous work. The nations will be judged. This 
millennial period is represented to us under the form of 
a kingdom in which Jesus Christ is the Ruler. This was 
definitely predicted in the Annunciation. “He shall be 
great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the 
Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father 
David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for 
ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end’ (Luke 
1:32, 33). The Church of Christ will be a victorious 
Church. The rule of Jesus will be one of righteousness. 
The injustices of the past will have been done away with. 
There will be “new heavens and a new earth, wherein 
dwelleth righteousness” (2 Pet. 3:13). The last days 
of the millennial period will be marked by apostasy and 
rebellion, which will be completely overthrown with the 
destruction of Satan and the great judgment. 

If there is any point in Scripture where we need to 
be careful not to be wise above that which is written, it 
is with respect to the millennium. It is to be received 
as a revealed fact and in that fact we can rest, leaving 
all the details to make their own revelation as they tran- 
spire. ‘Those who project the Second Coming of Christ 
into the distant future do so without warrant. Those 
who predict the immediate coming of Jesus also do so 


216 THe SEVENTH FINALITY oF FaitH 


without warrant. The very fact that Christ may come 
today, and that there are many things in present-day 
conditions which furnish a reasonable ground to believe 
that he may come in the near future is reason enough 
to urge upon sinners the importance of immediate re- 
pentance, and upon Christian disciples vigilance and de- 
votion. 


“Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” 


VIII 
CONCLUSION 


Gop Is. 

Gop CREATED. 

Gop SPAKE. 

Gop CAME. 

GoD REDEEMED. 

Gop IS HERE. 

GoD IS COMING AGAIN, 


HESE, then, represent the unshakeable validities of 

the Christian faith. These are the supreme affirma- 

tions in Christian doctrine. They will never cease 
to be vital with believers in evangelical Christianity. 
There are not now and never will be any “assured re- 
sults” that deny the abiding and essential truths here 
represented. The unity of truth is a fundamental article 
of faith with all deep thinkers. As to the “assured 
results” presented by liberalistic Modernism, in very many 
instances the label does not fit. Science, philosophy, and 
religion—all natural and revealed truth—are in perfect 
harmony, because all truth emanates from the Supreme 
Mind. Eternal life is not secured by development. It 
is not earned through personal effort. It is the gift of 
God. When correctly interpreted and applied, the word 
“evolution” has an important significance. It represents 
the unfolding of that which is germinally given. It repre- 
sents the process whereby the potential becomes the actual. 
We work out what God Almighty has worked im. “After 

217 


212 THe SeveNTH FINALITY oF Fars 


as suggestive of the approach of the time when our Lord 
shall return to earth. These indications are clearly an- 
nounced by all the sacred writers, and they are in per- 
fect agreement regarding them. In Luke’s Gospel we 
read: “But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, 
be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; 
but the end is not by and by [come yet]” (21:9). A 
general apostasy is to be the condition in the Church. 
There are to be wide departures in the faith. “When 
the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” 
(Luke 18:8.) “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that 
in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving 
heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils” (1 Tim. 
4:1). “This know also, that in the last days perilous 
times shall come . . . But evil men and seducers shall 
wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived” 
(2 Tim. 3:1, 13). Paul urges Timothy to engage as- 
siduously in warning the people, because the time will 
come when they will not endure sound doctrine. They 
will turn aside to fables, and follow false teachers. 

The time of Christ’s coming is to be marked by great 
zeal in spreading the Gospel. “And this gospel of the 
kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness 
unto all nations; and then shall the end come” (Matt. 
24:14). The entire remainder of this chapter is devoted 
to the events that are to precede the Second Coming of 
Jesus Christ, as tokens of his Coming. The twenty-fifth 
chapter of Matthew is occupied with a very vivid por- 
trayal of the events that shall transpire when the Son 
of Man comes. 

Another indication of the approach of the Coming of 
Christ is the gathering together of the Jews in Palestine. 


Gop 1s Comina AGAIN 213 


Some of these events have repeatedly occurred, but not all 
of them together at the same time. Without pressing any 
particular references beyond their evident intent, enough 
is made clear to us respecting the conditions that will 
exist immediately preceding the Coming of Christ to 
enable us to reach a reasonable conclusion. 


§3. The Time 


If the Second Coming is distinctly prophesied, it is 
equally true that the time of the Second Coming is not 
declared in any specific way. While certain indications 
are presented we are warned not to undertake to declare 
more than is predicted. The time is withheld. “But of 
that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels 
which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father” 
(Mark 13:32). “But of the times and the seasons, 
brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For 
yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so 
cometh as a thief in the night” (1 Thess. 5:1, 2). It is 
evidently not the intent of the Scriptures to gratify the 
curiosity of anyone, nor is it designed to furnish any 
basis for a specific and positive declaration as to when 
the Lord will come. If there had been any possible ad- 
vantage in our knowing more, it would have been re- 
vealed to us. It is very easy to make the statement that 
the time is positively near at hand. There is no one in 
the world who can, on the basis of Scripture, declare 
that the Second Coming of Christ is sure to occur within 
the next few years. On the other hand, it is not within 
the province of any individual to say that the Lord may 
not come immediately. There are many indications that 


214 THe SEVENTH FINALITY oF FAITH 


point toward the near approach of that marvelous event 
which will usher in a new era. 

The Scripture has not made it sufficiently definite so 
that any one can state in detail all of the events that will 
occur during the reign of Christ after his return. It is 
tremendously important that the Church should be sane 
in its treatment of the doctrine of the Second Coming. 
That there will be inaugurated a new era with Christ 
in complete mastery in connection with the second man- 
ifestation of God on earth in Christ, there can be no 
doubt. Is this not sufficient? It is enough for us to 
know that the Second Coming of Christ may occur at 
any moment, and concerning this there need be no doubt. 
There is one very striking fact, and that is that all con- 
spicuous evangelists and nearly all who may be called 
great “soul-winners” believe in and preach the Second 
Coming. Christ has honored his servants who have made 
this the basis of a strong appeal for immediate surrender 
to Christ. As an incentive to conscientious and con- 
secrated living it has an important place. ‘And take 
heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be over- 
charged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of 
this life, and so that day come upon you unawares” 
(Luke 21:34). We are exhorted to watch, and it is 
declared: ‘Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when 
he cometh shall find so doing” (Matt. 24: 46). 


§ 4. The Result of the Second Coming 


The Book of Revelation deals with the conditions that 
shall result from the Second Coming of Christ. While 
we need great caution in our interpretation of this mys- 
tical, yet marvelous Book, some things seem very clear. 


Gop 1s Comina AGAIN 215 


First among these is the fact of the Millennium. Follow- 
ing the awful period of unspeakable suffering and tribula- 
tion referred to in the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew, 
Jesus will come and institute a special reign upon the 
earth which shall continue a thousand years. ‘This is 
definitely referred to in the twentieth chapter of Revela- 
tion. Then Antichrist is to be destroyed, and the enemies 
of God’s people will no longer have power to continue 
their ruinous work. The nations will be judged. This 
millennial period is represented to us under the form of 
a kingdom in which Jesus Christ is the Ruler. This was 
definitely predicted in the Annunciation. “He shall be 
great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the 
Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father 
David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for 
ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end’ (Luke 
1:32, 33). The Church of Christ will be a victorious 
Church. The rule of Jesus will be one of righteousness. 
The injustices of the past will have been done away with. 
There will be ‘new heavens and a new earth, wherein 
dwelleth righteousness” (2 Pet. 3:13). The last days 
of the millennial period will be marked by apostasy and 
rebellion, which will be completely overthrown with the 
destruction of Satan and the great judgment. 

If there is any point in Scripture where we need to 
be careful not to be wise above that which is written, it 
is with respect to the millennium. It is to be received 
as a revealed fact and in that fact we can rest, leaving 
all the details to make their own revelation as they tran- 
spire. Those who project the Second Coming of Christ 
into the distant future do so without warrant. Those 
who predict the immediate coming of Jesus also do so 


216 THe SEVENTH FINALITY oF FaItH 


without warrant. The very fact that Christ may come 
today, and that there are many things in present-day 
conditions which furnish a reasonable ground to believe 
that he may come in the near future is reason enough 
to urge upon sinners the importance of immediate re- 
pentance, and upon Christian disciples vigilance and de- 
votion. 


“Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” 


VIII 
CONCLUSION 


Gop Is. 

GoD CREATED. 

Gop SPAKE. 

Gop CAME. 

GoD REDEEMED. 

Gop IS HERE. 

GoD IS COMING AGAIN. 


HESE, then, represent the unshakeable validities of 

the Christian faith. These are the supreme affirma- 

tions in Christian doctrine. They will never cease 
to be vital with believers in evangelical Christianity. 
There are not now and never will be any “assured re- 
sults” that deny the abiding and essential truths here 
represented. The unity of truth is a fundamental article 
of faith with all deep thinkers. As to the “assured 
results” presented by liberalistic Modernism, in very many 
instances the label does not fit. Science, philosophy, and 
religion—all natural and revealed truth—are in perfect 
harmony, because all truth emanates from the Supreme 
Mind. Eternal life is not secured by development. It 
is not earned through personal effort. It is the gift of 
God. When correctly interpreted and applied, the word 
“evolution” has an important significance. It represents 
the unfolding of that which is germinally given. It repre- 
sents the process whereby the potential becomes the actual. 
We work out what God Almighty has worked im. “After 

217 


218 CONCLUSION 


his kind,” tells the final story of birth and growth, It 
is true in the entire realm of nature, with no exception. 
It is true in spiritual infolding and unfolding as it is in 
the natural world. Here is the secret of the “origin of 
species’ and also of the continuation of species. 

Compromise on the seven finalities of faith results in 
temporary paralysis, but not in peace. It is hardly con- 
sistent to sing “Onward Christian Soldiers” and then 
retreat when the first volley is fred. Modernism is the 
monoxide gas of religion. The characteristics of mon- 
oxide gas are its invisibility, its imperceptibility, its dis- 
astrous and even deadly effect. It works without warn- 
ing. ‘The victim may be dead before he is aware that 
anything is happening. Nothing is easier to simulate than 
Gospel doctrine. Phraseology, ministerial tone and at- 
titude, theological terminology of evangelicals,—and be- 
fore the victim is aware of it he has lost his Christ, his 
divine message, his spiritual earnestness, and finally his 
faith in God. He is dead, without knowing how it hap- 
pened. 

We are today in the storm zone. Some one must take 
the responsibility of setting the danger signals. There 
are too many unbridged rivers before Liberalism to make 
committal to that route safe or sane. 

The “rose of Sharon” does not appear in the dismal 
swamps of unbelief. No soul can live and grow in the 
nitrogen valley where the atmosphere is filled with un- 
breatheable gas. The alkali lake bed of atheistic denials 
produces no harvests of contentment and happiness. Gold 
and wood will not amalgamate. Real fire needs no label. 
You cannot make cage-mates of a crow and a canary, 
not even by resolutions. Seed in the soil, watered and sun- 


CONCLUSION 219 


kissed, will make its own revelations. Power, pilot, and 
port are all essential to a successful voyage. Unplumbed 
piety represents the deeps of God’s own life in Jesus 
Christ. “Self-expression,” about which so much is said, 
is often only self-explosion. What is desired is Christ- 
expression in personal life. That will mean obedience and 
progressive life. Up-to-date-ness becomes an obsession 
with many people. Up-to-truth-ness is far more impor- 
tant. 

Of the spies sent to the Promised Land on a tour of 
inspection and investigation, all but two brought back an 
unfavorable report. They were obsessed with the perils 
which would beset a campaign. They said, “There are 
giants in the land.” “Let us make terms with them at 
the outset.’ Caleb said, “Let us go up at once, and 
possess it [the land]; for we are well able to overcome 
it’ (Num. 13:30). With evangelicals, Christianity is 
the greatest thing in the world. No matter how great the 
opposition nor how widespread the dissension and dis- 
affection we have no reason to doubt that we are well 
able to possess the land. It is to believers in Jesus the 
promise comes, “It is your Father’s good pleasure to 
give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32). Regarding mat- 
ters of method and non-essentials, preferences may be 
properly yielded, but in these finalities of faith there 
can be neither retreat nor surrender. Compromise con- 
cerning the person and work of Jesus Christ is simply 
crucifying the Son of God anew. 

What do we mean by “essentials”? We mean what- 
ever is a necessary part of the redemptive program pre- 
sented in the New Testament Scriptures. Whatever 
vitally contributed to equip Jesus Christ to be the world’s 


220 CONCLUSION 


Saviour is essential. Hence the importance of the Virgin 
Birth, without which there was no incarnation of God. 
Acceptance of the fact that the Bible is God’s Word is 
essential, because without that we have no positive and 
final knowledge of the historic Christ. Many modern 
peace resolutions in great conventions sign an armistice 
without victory, and this never guarantees peace. A 
transient peace at the cost of principle merely substitutes 
an opiate for a remedy. Ours is a splendid, constructive 
program, engaging the spiritual forces of the world. It 
is a program not of transient externalities, but of vitaliza- 
tion through applied redemption. Pleasing platitudes 
allay no fears. Unsupported theories produce only “ap- 
ples of Sodom” for fruit. The desert of sage brush and 
serpents does not become a blooming garden until water 
from God’s mountain reservoirs of snow baptize it. A 
mirage slakes no thirst. Wax fruit will do for adorn- 
ment but contributes no sustenance. Phosphorescent 
fox fire is a poor substitute for sunshine. All these offer- 
ings of Modernism fail to satisfy heart hunger or to 
cleanse a sin-fouled soul or to set a star of hope in the 
human sky. 

A conciliation is purchased at too great a cost when it 
means the betrayal of sacred trust. This is rather the time 
for ardent advocacy of the Gospel of reconciliation in 
Christ. Not one discovery of any kind anywhere has 
invalidated a single saving doctrine of the Gospel of 
grace. Certainly there is yet more light to break forth 
from God’s Word, but not from a denial that the Book of 
God is his Word. Not from the denizens of cave dwell- 
ings and shadowed canyons whence emanates the deliver- 
ances of modernistic rationalists, but from the sun-blessed 


CONCLUSION 221 


followers of Jesus Christ must come the leadership of the 
victorious Church of God. The pillars that support the 
structure of evangelical Christian doctrine are immovable. 
Our anchor holds. When all other schemes for scaling 
the battlements of glory have gone down in wreck and 
are forgotten, God’s great highway, Jesus Christ, will 
present the one and only open road to life everlasting 
(John 14:6). 

The programs of Liberalism have been many and 
varied. Many evangelical churches have hearkened to the 
alluring voice counseling departures from long tried and 
successful methods. Ten great expedients have been tried 
by the Christian churches with a view to increasing the 
interest on the part of the unchurched masses. Within 
a score of years all these expedients have been resorted 
to and in no instance with signal success. The world 
pointed with more or less scorn to the church for its 
failure to utilize world methods, and the church was urged 
to institutionalize itself. Bowling alleys, billiard tables, 
and in some instances, dance halls became a part of 
church equipment. Those who were most active in this 
work confessed after a few years their great disappoint- 
ment in results. 

We next undertook to socialize the church. We were 
told that the difficulty with the church in its lack of great 
success was due to the failure of its members to get into 
intimate social relations. Immediately, we had on every 
hand a multiplication of “pink teas,” “pleasant Sunday 
afternoons,’ and all sorts of social engagements, even 
to the extent of bridge whist. What was the result? A 
lessening of respect for the church as an institution. This 


222 CONCLUSION 


was not because the social life of the church found em- 
phasis, but because it found an overemphasis. 

The next move was to popularize the church. The 
sermon must be reduced to a minimum. Less stress 
should be placed upon spirituality and more upon general 
public interests. But as a matter of fact, the church did 
not become more popular by the adoption of this method. 

The next move was to sensationalize the church. Movy- 
ing pictures were introduced. The spectacular and the 
novel received undue attention. It was soon discovered 
that the church can never successfully compete with the 
play house in the matter of entertainment. It simply did 
not work. 

These things proving unsuccessful, an entirely differ- 
ent method was advocated. The church must be philoso- 
phized. Religion was no longer to be regarded as a re- 
demptive program but as a “philosophy of life.” Interest- 
ing theories, rather attractive speculations, occupied the 
half hour of pulpit discourse. Meanwhile empty pews be- 
came even more conspicuous than before. The church was 
growing rather desperate. What next should be done? 

We proceeded then in many instances to “pathologize”’ 
the church. We were told that sin is not the dreadful 
thing it has been represented to be. It is merely a disease. 
It is a matter for a physician and not for a Saviour. The 
church was exhorted also to establish a clinic, and recog- 
nize that a large part of its job should be the healing of 
the body. That it is the duty of the church to recognize 
the importance of health and the best sanitary conditions 
no one can question. But the attempt to rid sin of its 
real significance always ignominiously fails. The world 
knows better. Many churches found themselves unsuited 


CONCLUSION 223 


for the carrying on of a work that belongs particularly 
to a hospital. At any rate, the “pathologized” church 
has never been a great success in soul-winning, which is 
the church’s particular business. 

The next move was to rationalize the church. Thomas 
Paine’s “Age of Reason” and kindred books were to 
give the important instruction necessary in this ration- 
alizing process. We were told that belief in miracles be- 
longed to a primitive period and had no proper place in 
advanced civilization. Wherever this method was adopted 
it was a pitiful failure either in winning numbers or in 
ennobling the character of those brought under its in- 
fluence. 

Very logically the next move was to anti-supernaturalize 
the church. The slogan was, “nothing above the natural 
order.” It is astounding how widespread this movement 
has become. God is politely bowed out of his world and 
of course has no place in his Book. The seat of author- 
ity is in the individual life and not in any revelation of 
God. Meanwhile, what have been the results? Diminish- 
ing church attendance where this attitude is maintained, 
and a tremendous moral slump throughout the country. 

It is only one step to the final landing place. And in 
not a few liberal churches this step has been taken. The 
final move is to atheize the church. God is no longer to 
be regarded as a personal God. Indeed, the name stands 
for superstition and a lack of intelligence. Such then is 
the drift, against which every true evangelical will take 
his stand. 

Why not try the plan and program of God Almighty? 
It works. It works everywhere, all the time, among all 
people, in all conditions, and at every period of the in- 


224 CONCLUSION 


dividual life. The redemptive program never fails. Let 
us have done with the superficialities, the sophistries, and 
failures of modern apostasies, and let us engage with new 
zeal to do business for God in God’s way. Suppose we 
undertake to Christianize the church. 

Conviction! Repentance! Conversion! Regeneration! 
Righteousness! ‘These are the watch words of the victo- 
rious church of the future. “The Lion of the tribe of 
Judah,” accredited of the eternal God, will prevail. 


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